By Mijinyawa Ahmed
The Bauchi State Primary Health Care Development Agency, in partnership with the Sultan Foundation, has mobilised influential religious leaders from twenty local government areas ahead of the forthcoming Measles/Rubella Integrated Vaccination Campaign.
The statewide exercise, scheduled to run from October 18 to 27, targets children aged nine to fifty-nine months for Measles and Rubella vaccines, as well as nine-year-old girls for the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine.
Speaking during an engagement meeting in Bauchi, the Emir of Dass, Alhaji Usman Bilyaminu Othman, explained that the forum was designed to sensitise religious leaders on the importance of immunisation so they could effectively enlighten their followers.
The Emir, who chairs the Bauchi State Emirate Councils Committee on Health (BASECCOH), emphasised that messages delivered by clerics during sermons play a vital role in influencing public health behaviour.
He further disclosed that all logistics, including personnel training and vaccine distribution, have been finalised to ensure a smooth ten-day exercise, followed by a two-day mop-up.
Also speaking, the Executive Chairman of the State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Rilwanu Mohammed, said the vaccination would be conducted in health facilities and other designated fixed posts.
He urged parents and guardians to present their eligible children for immunisation.Programme Officer of the Sultan Foundation, Dr. Ali Sama’ila, commended the participating clerics for their commitment and urged them to take the vaccination awareness campaign to the grassroots.
In his remarks, Bauchi-based Islamic scholar, Malam Attahiru Baƙoji, reaffirmed that Islam supports immunisation, stressing that medical experts have confirmed the vaccines as safe and effective for protecting children’s health
