As Nigeria records 48 cases of Circulating Vaccine Derived Poliovirus (CVP2) across 28 states, the Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar has decried non implementation of strategies, noting that it has adversely impacted the country.
Nigeria eradicated wild poliovirus (WPV) in 2020. But a new polio strain, CVP2 emerged in Zamfara state due to children with zero vaccine doses as it spread to vaccine inaccessible areas in 27 other states threatening previous achievements.
The Sultan Foundation for Peace and Development partnered National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) to organise Northern Traditional Leaders Committee on PHC Delivery Strategic Meeting with Traditional Leaders of Inaccessible Areas in Kaduna, Katsina and Niger states, to discuss how to reach the affected children some of whom are in areas rife with insecurity.
Addressing the third leg of the meeting which had previously held in Sokoto and Gusau, on Wednesday, the Sultan said, “the problem of our leaders, myself included, is that, we don’t lack support from our people, we don’t lack solution to our problems, what we lack is implementation. We talk beautiful Hausa, English and Fulfude but once we leave here, that is the end of it.
“We come back, we repeat the same thing. We don’t implement the earlier decisions, we should implement some of the decisions we have taken. The district heads here should let us know what the challenge is and how we can reach those inaccessible children.”
The deputy governor of Kaduna state, Dr. Hadiza Balarabe, who represented Governor Uba Sani, decried the vulnerability of children in the North, saying: “North-west has been lagging behind in vaccine immunisation, once there us an area of vulnerability, all our children become vulnerable. Our SUSTAIN manifesto has viable immunisation agenda. We have procured equipment for all 290 PHC centers, reduced bypass of secondary health facilities, established contributory health system.”
