By Musa M. Buba Damaturu
Governor Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe state, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Mr. Bill Gates; Chairman of Dangote Foundation, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, and stakeholders met yesterday in Damaturu, the Yobe state capital, for a mid-year review of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the state and the two foundations on Routine Immunisation (RI) in the state. Gates and Dangote joined the meeting via live video connection from Seattle in the United States and Lagos, respectively.
Th e governor said with the improved security, more people were being reached with vaccines, essential drugs and other lifesaving commodities. “Yobe state government will continue to support the provision of life-saving vaccines, other high-impact life-saving interventions, increase the human resource workforce and the renovation, revitalisation and standardisation of primary health care facilities in line with the minimum standards for primary health care in Nigeria,” he said.
Th e governor charged traditional rulers and religious leaders to provide oversight and ensure that all eligible children and women in their domains were fully vaccinated against vaccine-preventable diseases. He also thanked the cofoundations for their support in the strengthening the state health care system. In their responses, Dangote and Gates praised Governor Ibrahim Gaidam and the Yobe state government for giving immunisation the maximum priority and called on its expansion coverage to nooks and crannies of the state. Also speaking, a development partner, World Health Organisation (WHO), said thatthe successes recorded through the reaching every settlement/ reaching inaccessible child initiative had brought down the number of inaccessible settlements from over 700 in December 2016 to a little over 170 at present.
In his remarks, the Chairman, Yobe Council of Chiefs, the Emir of Fika, Alhaji Muhammadu Abali Ibin Muhammadu Idrissa, who spoke on behalf of the traditional rulers, said they would continue to work in collaboration with the state government and the partners to create awareness among the people. Our correspondent reports that the meeting was also attended by the Emir of Bade, Alhaji Abubakar Umar Suleiman, development partners from United Nations, agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
