By Asma’u Ahmad
The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, has again assured parents that the Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) is safe for Nigerian children.
Newsmen reports that Sultan Abubakar spoke in Sokoto at a one-day Round Table Discussion on Polio Eradication (PEI), with media professionals and other stakeholders.
Represented by the District Head of Hamma’ali, Alhaji Bello Abubakar, the Sultan said that the vaccine had been globally tested by seasoned medical experts and clerics and it was found to be efficacious.
Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III
He said: “the vaccine properly protects the children from getting infected from the debilitating disease and other child killer diseases. Our children should be fully immunised against the child killer diseases like measles, tetanus and diphtheria, among others.
Sultan Abubakar also stressed the need for sustained massive sensitisation on the need for parents to allow their children to be fully immunised.
The Executive Secretary of the State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (SPHCDA), Dr. Sani Labaran, said the state had sustained collaborations with neighbouring Niger Republic to ensure success of the polio immunisation.
Represented by the Director, Disease Surveillance and Immunisation, Dr. Aminu Shehu, he promised to sustain partnership with all stakeholders to eradicate polio from Nigeria.
Head of UNICEF, Sokoto Field Office, Malam Mohammed Muhiddeen lamented that only five per cent of children aged zero to five had been fully immunised in Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara States.
He said that that there was the need for an “urgent social movement” to redress the ugly trend to adequately protect the children.
