The Emir of Dutse, Hameem Nuhu Sanusi, has flagged off a special round of polio vaccine campaign targeted at over 1.5 million children in Jigawa State.
The ceremony took place at his palace after he personally administered the vaccine on some children and assured the community that it was safe and effective.
The emir assured the people that the traditional institutions would continue to pursue and promote programmes that would enhance their health, social and economic well-being.
Sanusi advised parents to bring out their children for vaccination to enable the state sustain the gains made in polio eradication 13 years ago.
The State Director of the Primary Healthcare Agency, Dr Sambo Shehu said arrangements had been made to ensure the success of the vaccination exercise.
He said over 1.5 million children from 0-5 years are targeted for the vaccination and over 3,000 teams comprising over 15,000 ad-hoc staff were mobilised for the exercise to reach every child in the state.
Sambo said “The aim of the vaccination is to strengthen the immunity of our children against any possible resurgence of polio virus which we eradicated out of our state for the past 13 year.
“It is a collective responsibility to keep our children and our society safe from this and other deadly viruses, therefore we call on everyone to play his expected role for achieving the desired goals.”