Thursday, the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, reported that over 600,000 children in Kano, Katsina, and Jigawa States were not immunized against childhood fatal diseases.
During a media briefing on the UNICEF State of the World Children’s (SOWC) 2023: Immunization and Zero Dose situation in Kano Field Office states, UNICEF Kano Field Office Chief Rahama Farah disclosed that Kano has the highest number of children with over 300,000 out of the total number, which represents 55%.
Farah stated that the children are dispersed across 46 Local Government Areas, LGAs, with a majority in Kano, followed by Jigawa and Katsina, and are primarily located in remote and inaccessible areas.
According to him, UNICEF is extremely concerned about the number of unvaccinated children in Kano, Katsina, and Jigawa, which fall under the Kano field office. We are concerned because access to immunization services is one of the most fundamental liberties of children. We know that globally, children are dying because they lack access to vaccinations against preventable diseases. This is a significant concern for us in Nigeria, particularly in Kano.
In the states of Kano, Katsina, and Jigawa, over 600,000 minors missed their first dose of immunization. 55% of the children were in Kano, which accounted for over 300,000 of them. There are 26% of minors in the state of Jigawa and 19% in the state of Katsina.
The majority of the minors are located in Kano, followed by Jigawa and then Katsina. They are dispersed across LGAs in remote and inaccessible health system regions.
“We are calling on all community leaders and policymakers to form a partnership to reduce the number of children who are not immunized against child-killing diseases.
“We are requesting that the government increase funding for the health system in order to reach out to youth. They should also make substantial investments to assure the robustness and improvement of primary healthcare in the three states. They should incorporate immunization into the health services provided to the communities.
“We also call for community engagement in terms of creating demand and building confidence in the effectiveness of vaccines,” stated Farah.
Abimbola Aman-Olaniyo, a UNICEF health specialist, stated that unvaccinated children are susceptible to preventable diseases and epidemics, citing the recent diphtheria outbreak in Kano state and the Celebrospinal meningitis outbreak in Jigawa state.
She stated that the fund intends to reach 250,985 children in Kano, 154,780 children in Katsina, and 94,060 children in Jigawa by 2023 in order to reduce the number of zero-dose children.
In the meantime, the UNICEF Communication Specialist, Samuel Kaalu, urged caregivers to embrace immunization, as it has been demonstrated to be essential and cost-effective in preventing diseases and lowering the incidence of childhood killer diseases.
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