By Ibrahim Muhammad
The Jigawa State Government has called on the media to intensify public awareness campaigns on the importance of immunisation in order to eliminate non-compliance across the state.
The State Immunisation Officer, Dr. Shehu Ibrahim, made the call during a one-day mass mobilisation dialogue on polio campaign and routine immunisation organised by the State Primary Health Care Development Agency in collaboration with UNICEF Kano Field Office.
The engagement brought together journalists, social media influencers, youth advocates and U-Reporters to review the outcome of the recent March polio campaign and discuss strategies for improving caregivers’ trust, vaccine acceptance and public understanding of immunisation.
Dr. Ibrahim said the state vaccinated about 2.5 million children under the age of five in the latest campaign, representing 116 per cent of the target. He described the achievement as a sign of growing commitment to child health in the state.
He noted that despite sustained awareness efforts involving the media, traditional institutions and religious leaders, cases of vaccine refusal were still recorded in a few local government areas.
According to him, each of the 27 local government areas is expected to record at least 95 per cent immunisation coverage, but some councils performed below the required benchmark.
He disclosed that the state recorded 5,421 cases of non-compliance during the exercise, out of which 4,950 were successfully resolved, leaving 471 unresolved cases.
Dr. Ibrahim stressed that stronger collaboration with the media remains essential to address misinformation, build public confidence and ensure that every eligible child receives life-saving vaccines.
Speaking on behalf of journalists, the Chairman of the Correspondents’ Chapel, Comrade Muhammad Zangina, pledged to strengthen public enlightenment on the significance of vaccination to child survival.
He also assured that journalists would continue to participate in the planning and implementation of immunisation exercises through demand generation and feedback to support more effective policy formulation.
