Kano State Plans Polio Vaccination for Over 3 Million Children

Kano State is preparing to launch a new round of polio vaccinations aimed at 3,024,026 children aged between zero and 59 months. This campaign will focus on 30 local government areas that are considered high-risk for polio.

The immunization effort is set to begin on November 7 and will run until November 10, 2026. This will be the third round of the state-wide polio campaign, but it will specifically target these 30 areas instead of the full 44 local government areas.

Alhaji Rabiu Ibrahim, the State Social Mobilisation Officer, explained that this focused approach is based on a risk analysis to protect children in the most vulnerable areas. The state has received over 3.5 million doses of the oral polio vaccine from the National Primary Health Care Development Agency to carry out this campaign.

The vaccination will be conducted using three main strategies: house-to-house visits, fixed vaccination posts at health facilities, and special teams in schools and public places. Ibrahim urged journalists and community leaders to help raise awareness among parents and caregivers to ensure high participation rates.

He highlighted the importance of allowing eligible children to receive the vaccine before their fingers are marked with indelible ink, which indicates they have been vaccinated. This step is crucial to avoid marking children who have not actually received the vaccine.

Ibrahim stressed that vaccinating every child is vital for protecting not just individual children but the entire community from polio.