Kano communities turn out in force to mount fresh attack against polio
Babatunde Rolland reports from the frontlines of a polio vaccination drive that aimed to reach more than 20 million children across northern Nigeria.
- 23 October 2024
- 6 min read
- by Babatunde Rolland
At 8am in the rustic town of Yandadi Gidan Dogo in Nigeria’s northwestern Kano state, 23-year-old Yasir Abdukadir and about 12 other nursing mothers found spots on the benches at the local primary health care centre.
Clasping her hands around her one-month-old baby, Abdukadir smiled warmly as she spotted two health workers, with equipment hung carefully over their shoulders, emerge from the distance.
“He is my fourth child, and I brought him for this immunisation so he won’t fall sick like his older siblings.”
- Yasir Abdukadir
After brief remarks by the health workers on the importance of polio vaccination for children, the mothers took turns to have their children vaccinated. It was day two of the mass polio vaccination campaign organised by the Kano State Government, and there was a ripple of excitement among the women.
“He is my fourth child, and I brought him for this immunisation so he won’t fall sick like his older siblings,” Abdukadir told VaccinesWork. “Our community leaders advised us to take our children for immunisation and they assured us it will protect them from polio.”
Described by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a crippling and life-threatening infectious disease that largely affects children under age five, polio – in its wild form – is now endemic only to two countries in the world: Afghanistan and Pakistan. But a variant of polio – cVDPV2, which stands for circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 – is now found in many other places where vaccine coverage is insufficiently high to stop the weakened, harmless version of the poliovirus that can protect children, from spreading, including in Nigeria. That’s because, in rare cases, given time, unchecked transmission can give the vaccine virus the opportunity to mutate into a form that is capable of causing disease.
Fifty-one cases of cVDPV2 have been recorded in Nigeria so far this year. Those cases have been disproportionately concentrated in Nigeria’s northern states, where immunisation coverage has historically lagged.
If every child is immunised, then no child is at risk. In September, ten northern Nigerian states launched a mass vaccination exercise, aiming to protect 20.7 million children aged under five from the paralysing virus – and take another step towards the pathogen’s eradication.
The view from Kano
The Chief of UNICEF Field Office in Kano, Rahama Rihood Mohammed Farah, told VaccinesWork that the campaign, which took place between 28 September and 1 October, aimed to reach 3.5 million children in all 44 local government areas of the state with polio vaccines.
“Parents gave maximum cooperation and turnout was very impressive.”
- Rabiu Musa Yakubu, Madobi LGA Health Official
At the time of writing, Farah and the Head of Public Relations, Kano State Ministry of Health, Ibrahim Abdullahi, said the collation of the number of children reached during the exercise was still ongoing.
Parents step up
Like Yandadi Gadan Dogo’s, Tamburawan Gabas Primary Health Centre was thronged with mothers from neighbouring Gidan Yanshuni. While in some places the campaign relied on outreach vaccination in the community, here, getting mothers out to the clinic was evidently no problem.
Aisha Abubakar, a 25-year-old mother of two, said she was encouraged to bring her three-month-old baby for vaccination having heard testimonials from her neighbours whose children were immunised.
Have you read?
“This is the third time I’m bringing him for immunisation. Health workers who go house to house have sensitised us to the benefits of immunisation,” Aisha said.
Across the various communities VaccinesWork visited in the Madobi and Warawa local government areas of the state, mothers had turned out en masse. A cross-section of parents told this reporter that they were happy to be part of the exercise, as it would protect their children from the disease.
“This is my first time immunising my child,” 21-year-old Hadiza Sani said. “We appreciate health workers for coming to our house. It’s an incentive for parents. I’m very happy it will protect my daughter against polio.”
“Some years back, parents were not fully educated on the importance of vaccination, but now they are cooperating and I’m excited. I’m confident that with time, polio and other diseases will fade out of our communities.”
- Usman Garba, Tudun Wada Madobi community leader
A health official at Madobi LGA, Rabiu Musa Yakubu, confirmed that “parents gave maximum cooperation and turnout was very impressive”.
He added, “The polio vaccine given to me on day one, being September 28, was 2,500 doses, out of which 2,459 were administered. On day two, I was given the same doses and I administered 2,461. So, I recorded 4,920 out of 5,000. Before, parents were not fully aware of the benefits, but now they are cooperating and we are able to reach more people.”
A senior health officer at the Tamburawan Gabas Health Centre, Fatima Abubakar, was enthusiastic about the change she observed: “In the past, women in hard-to-reach areas didn't come for immunisation, but with increased awareness and our house-to-house campaign, we have been able to reach more people.”
Another health worker, Aisha Salisu Adam, in Tudun Wada Madobi community, said the turnout during this campaign stood out as higher than in previous years. “I administered the Oral Poliomyelitis Vaccine Drop (Type 2), and with the way parents embraced it, we will curtail the spread of this disease in our communities,” she told VaccinesWork.
In Shafa Madaobi community, one health official, Summayya Umar, who was accompanied by a community leader, Isah Yusuf, said the exercise was fruitful. “The polio vaccination is well accepted in the community. Parents are cooperating to ensure their children are vaccinated,” Umar said.
Meanwhile, a consultant physician and public health specialist, Prof Michael Olamoyegun, said the expectation was for every child to be vaccinated shortly after birth. Since not all children are born in hospitals, and multiple doses of the polio vaccine are recommended, such mass vaccination exercises constitute a critical response to outbreaks.
He added, “Even if only one case was detected in an area, the government would mobilise to the area for a mop-up programme, because some might be incubating already. Given the devastating effect of polio, immunisation is key to keeping every child safe from the disease.”
Community leaders applaud exercise
The head of Tamburawan Gabas community, Isa Garba, told VaccinesWork, “In the past, there were myths and misconceptions, but with increased sensitisation, our people are now accepting immunisation. We appeal to the authorities to keep it up.”
Usman Garba, the leader of Tudun Wada Madobi community, said vaccination over the years had been helping to reduce certain health crises, especially among children.
“Some years back, parents were not fully educated on the importance of vaccination, but now they are cooperating and I’m excited. I’m confident that with time, polio and other diseases will fade out of our communities,” he stated.
More from Babatunde Rolland
Recommended for you
