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Jigawa State has called on the media to intensify public awareness campaigns on the importance of immunisation, aimed at eliminating non-compliance across the state.
The State Immunisation Officer, Dr Shehu Ibrahim, made the call during a one-day mass mobilisation dialogue on the polio campaign and routine immunisation, organised by the State Primary Health Care Development Agency in collaboration with UNICEF Kano Field Office.
The engagement brought together journalists, social media influencers, youth advocates and U-Reporters to review the outcome of the recent March polio campaign and discuss strategies for improving caregivers’ trust, vaccine acceptance and public understanding of the importance of immunisation.
He said the state had vaccinated about 2.5 million children under the age of five in the latest campaign, representing 116 per cent of the target, describing the performance as a sign of growing commitment to child health in the state.
He noted that despite sustained awareness efforts involving the media, traditional institutions and religious leaders, cases of vaccine refusal were still recorded in a few local government areas.
According to him, each of the 27 local government areas is expected to record at least 95 per cent immunisation coverage, but some councils performed below the required benchmark.
Shehu disclosed that the state recorded 5,421 cases of non-compliance during the exercise, out of which 4,950 were successfully resolved, leaving 471 unresolved cases.
He stressed that stronger collaboration with the media remains essential to address misinformation, build public confidence and ensure that every eligible child receives life-saving vaccines.
Speaking on behalf of working journalists, the Chairman of the Correspondents’ Chapel, Muhammad Zangina, promised to strengthen public enlightenment on the significance of the vaccine to the survival of children.
The journalist also pledged to continue participating in the preparation and implementation of the vaccination exercise for demand generation and feedback, to enable more effective policy formulation.
Jigawa urges media to boost immunisation awareness, tackle vaccine refusal
