The Health Educator of Warawa Local Government Area (LGA) in Kano State, Bello Jafaru, says community sensitization and strong support from traditional leaders helped them overcome vaccine resistance in the just-concluded polio immunization campaign.
In an interview with Daily Post, Jafaru revealed that the campaign targeted 57,754 children in the local government, but they were able to immunize 59,391 children, surpassing the target.
“We did massive sensitization before the campaign. We held advocacy meetings, taskforce meetings, and town hall meetings with stakeholders. We explained the challenges we had in the previous campaign and what we needed from them to avoid repeating vaccine resistance.”
He recalled that in a previous round of polio vaccination, some parents in one of the wards, ( Jigawa ward) resisted the vaccine until traditional leaders stepped in.
“We had to do community dialogue in that settlement. The people told us their concerns, and we listened. That helped us solve the problem,” he added.
Jafaru said the recent campaign also faced challenges.
He gave instances where a woman refused to allow her children to be vaccinated.
“But thanks to our non-compliance committee and the support of traditional leaders, we were able to resolve it. The committee first spoke to her, and when that didn’t work, the Hakimi instructed that she and her children be brought for immunization.”
He explained that the non-compliance committee is made up of representative from each ward, including health workers and community influencers.
“They are doing their best. They were the ones who convinced the woman before involving the traditional ruler,” he said.
Jafaru advised parents to take polio immunization seriously.
“It is free, safe, and protects children from polio and other diseases. Parents should take their children to the health facility to be vaccinated,” he said.
This comes as the Kano State Government, in collaboration with UNICEF, continues its campaign to ensure that no child in the state suffers from polio by December 2025.
