The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF had resolved cases of non-compliance in the ongoing polio Immunization exercise, in Kundum Durum community, Bauchi local government.
Speaking with journalists on a monitoring exercise, the Polio Ward Focal Person, Kundum Durum, Nuru Abdullahi, noted that on the first day of the exercise, non-compliance was recorded in ten houses in the community involving 30 Children.
The Ward Focal Person informed UNICEF support Monitoring journalists that residents of the community are embracing the Polio vaccines, saying, ,”Out of over two thousand houses visited in the community, only less than ten houses were recorded for non-compliance.”
According to him, “Even the houses where non-compliance were recorded in Gubi, was instantly resolved by the UNICEF team, led by its chief of Bauchi Field Office, Dr. Nuzhat Rafique during supervision.”
He revealed that over four thousand children between the age of 0-5 have been vaccinated as at the third day of the vaccination exercise.
Rimawaglobalnews reports that following the launching of the Polio campaign targeting 2.5m kids by the Bauchi State Government and UNICEF
While Commending UNICEF and Bauchi State Government for their Collaboration to get rid of Polio in Bauchi State, Nura, acknowledged that the ward was provided with enough vaccines and working materials.
The Ward Focal Person, attributed the success recorded in the Ward during the exercise to the active role and Commitment of the traditional Rulers in the area, saying the recruitment of the ad-hoc vaccinators in the respective community in question was also the game changer.
He pointed out that “the increase in the allowances of the ad-hoc vaccinators from N26,000 per team to N36,000 by the concerned Partners has played a vital and motivating role that made the exercise easy”.Nura stated.
The Ward Head of Durum, who is the overseer of the Kundum Durum catchment area, Nasiru Musa Ahmad, while speaking to UNICEF Support journalists monitoring the vaccination application, stated that residents of the community reject the vaccines not for any cultural or religious reasons but mostly to show their grievances over the unfair distribution of Insecticide mosquito nets by the government.
He explained that “Whenever there was a distribution of palliative by the government for any reason, some individuals who were not lucky enough to benefit turned their grievances to vaccination.”
He maintained that “Unlike other places where residents totally rejected the immunizations, ours is merely a show of grievances and is always resolved whenever our representative intervene.”
He appreciated the UNICEF, World Health Organization and other Partners for their continued intervention in health-related issues, expressing their continuous loyalty to the Bauchi state Government
One of the parents, Gambo Nataala who presented his three kids in his own wish expressed readiness to convince many of his friends to submit their children for the polio vaccine, saying he has nine children and seven of them were able to complete their doses except the first two kids.
