UNICEF Targets Over 1m Taraba Children For Immunization

 

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has flagged off an integrated immunization campaign in Taraba State, aiming to vaccinate more than one million children against polio and other preventable diseases.

 

The campaign, which was launched in Jalingo, the state capital, while flagging off the National Immunization Plus Days was said to be part of broader efforts to improve vaccination coverage and deliver essential health services to children, especially in hard-to-reach communities.

 

Speaking, the Chief of UNICEF's Bauchi Field Office, Dr. Nuzhat Rafique, described the campaign as critical for protecting children from life threatening diseases, stressing that UNICEF and its partners are committed to ensuring that every child in Taraba has access to life saving vaccines.

 

"Today is very important for every child in Taraba State. Polio is one of the diseases that must be eradicated, and this is achievable through vaccination.

 

There are over one million children under five in Taraba, and each and every child needs this vaccine. My special request to fathers and mothers is to make their children available for vaccination because this is the last year of our support for the polio vaccine. The whole world is watching Nigeria to achieve polio eradication, so we must reach even the last child," Dr. Rafique said.

 

Also speaking, the state chairman of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Alhaji Aminu Jauro Hassan, commended the strong partnership between UNICEF and the T state government, particularly the government's consistent release of counterpart funds to support immunization activities.

 

However, he expressed concern over low compliance in some parts of Jalingo, Ardo-Kola, and Bali local government councils, and urged parents to present their children for vaccination.

 

On his part, the Executive Secretary of the State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Nuhu Tukura, who took dignitaries down the memory lane, applauded UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO), and other partners for their continuous support to the agency, ministry of health, and the state at large.

 

He emphasized that healthcare is not the responsibility of the government alone, hence the need for all hands to be on deck in order to ensure the success of the ongoing immunization programme.

 

The integrated immunization initiative combines routine vaccinations with other essential health interventions, including vitamin A supplementation, deworming, nutrition, and health education, to improve child survival rates and reduce outbreaks of vaccine preventable diseases across Taraba'.