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9 July 2009
Abuja — The Emir of Dass in Bauchi State, Alhaji Bilyaminu Othman, has called on parents and guardians to ensure that their wards were immunised against polio.
Othman made the call in an interview with newsmen in his palace in Dass.
He said he had received a report about cases of non-compliance during the exercise by some individuals in his domain and promised to address the issue.
The emir, also a member of the mobilisation committee on polio immunisation in the northern part of the country, said that all hands must be on deck to eradicate the disease. A correspondent, who monitored the exercise in the area, reported that four households in Bundot village rejected the vaccines. The Local Immunisation Officer (LIO) Malam Yusuf Umar told newsmen that a cleric in the area refused immunisation for his children, arguing that since government did not address the problem of malaria, he saw no reason to immunise his children.
Miss Obi Adama, the WHO/UNICEF State Technical Facilitator on Immunisation in the area, said the commitment shown by the emir, council chairman, councilors and other community leaders in the area assisted greatly in the acceptance of the vaccine.
The Vice-Chairman of the council, Malam Idris Bala, told NAN that while 42,070 children were targeted for the immunisation in the area, 43,000 Oral Polio Virus (OPV) vaccines were allocated to the area in the current round of immunisation. Bala, who is also the Chairman, Task Force on Polio Immunisation in the area, said that many parents were bringing their children for immunisation.
He commended the role of the emir in mobilising the people for the exercise, which he said, yielded good results. (NAN)
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