By Mohammed Abubakar Dutse
Ahead of the March round of vaccination against Polio, the Jigawa State Primary Health Care Development Agency, (JHPDA) in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have concluded plans to immunize at least 1 million children aged between 0-59 months.
The six-day exercise which is scheduled to take between Saturday March 28-April 2, 2026 in all the 27 local government councils across the state aims to ensure that all children aged 0-five years are properly vaccinated.
To ensure the full enlightenment of the residents the Jigawa State Primary Health Care Development Agency, in collaboration with the UNICEF Kano Field Office, organised a one-day media dialogue with journalists, social media influencers and U-Reporters to create public awareness and acceptance of the vaccination.
The event, held on March 23, 2026, at Jigawa State Hotel Limited, focused on strategies to improve the success of the upcoming polio campaign and other vaccination campaigns.
Speaking during the session, state health educator Primary healthcare development agency Sani Yusuf highlighted the key objectives of the media engagement, which include creating widespread public awareness about the integrated campaign, promoting acceptance and uptake of vaccines, and addressing myths, rumours and misinformation surrounding immunisation.
Yusuf also emphasised the need to mobilise caregivers and communities to actively participate in vaccination exercises, noting that community trust remains critical to achieving full coverage.
According to the presentation, the campaign will cover all 27 local government areas in Jigawa State, targeting children aged 0 to 5 years. Various strategies, including house-to-house visits, fixed and temporary posts, and transit vaccination teams, will be deployed to ensure no child is left behind.
In his presentation, Jibril Shaibu Abdulsalam, the lead facilitator for Advocacy, Communication and Social Mobilization explained that the exercise would run for several days, including dedicated periods for outreach and mop-up activities to reach missed children.
Abdulsalam said the expected outcomes of the campaign include increased public awareness, higher turnout during immunisation days, improved caregiver confidence in vaccines, and a significant reduction in the spread of misinformation and vaccine hesitancy.
Participants at the dialogue stressed the important role of the media and digital influencers in shaping public perception, urging them to disseminate accurate information and counter false narratives that could hinder the success of the campaign.
The engagement forms part of broader efforts by government and development partners to strengthen routine immunisation and protect children from preventable diseases across Jigawa State.
Dr. Ksbiru Mustaoha, the Jigawa State Coordinator of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHDA) said the media had a lot of rolles to play, especially in the era of social media where misinformation is very rampant even among the elites.
Aldo speaking the State Representative of the World Health Organization, (WHO), Dr. Aliyu Muhammad Sabiu quoting the National Polio Emergency Operations Center said there were 1, 609 cases of reported cases of Accute Flacid Paralysis, (AFP) in 594 LGAs across the 36 states of the federation including the FCT Abuja in 2025.
This he said was a steep decline by 46% while compared to 2024 and stressed the need for the sustained campaign to ensure that all traces of polio are completely eradicated from the CC country.
He emphasized that the country had since 2024 been the declared polio+free by the WHO, noting that the forthcoming round of immunization was aimed at ensuring that all traces of the disease are completely eradicated.
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