No fresh polio outbreak in 58 months in Kano – Govt

Ahmad Sorondinki, Kano

Kano State government said that it had not recorded a single case of polio virus in the last 58 months, as a result of sustained and collective efforts between government and the people of the state.

Speaking at a press conference in Kano on Sunday, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Usman Bala, explained that all hands must be on deck in order to successfully eradicate the disease from the entire State.

According to him, part of the strategies employed to ensure total eradication of the disease include intensive surveillance of polio virus across the state, adding that the surveillance system was not only mounted in humans but in the environment as well.

He said Kano has 7 sites where environmental samples were being collected and tested for the virus on a regular basis in order to ensure that no any trace of the virus was found to be circulating in the environment.

He however stressed that the State government had within the last four years supported polio campaign with extra-ordinary zeal and commitment and has partnered with many stakeholders in ensuring that the battle of ending polio was fought to a logical conclusion.

Bala, also explained that, measures introduced to strengthen routine immunization services include establishment of Local Government Routine Immunization Coordination Centre (LERICC) in all the 44 local government areas of the state and the procurement as well as installation of two (2) 40m3 walk-in cold room for the state.

He pointed out that it was as a result of such initiatives that Kano stood out as one of the best performing and most improved state in Nigeria while Dala Local Government Area was awarded the best LGA in the country in the last conducted Lot Quality Assessment Survey (LQAS) in 2018.

He called on parents in the state to continue to avail their children for immunization during subsequent rounds of polio immunization in the state.