The Kano State Government has launched a diphtheria vaccination campaign across five local government areas following reports of outbreaks in parts of the state.
The exercise is being conducted in Dala, Fagge, Gwale, Kumbotso and Ungogo LGAs, covering 13 selected wards.
The Kano State Centre for Disease Control said in a statement by its Risk Communication and Community Engagement Officer, Rukayya Jafar Suleiman, that residents in the affected communities should take advantage of the campaign to protect themselves and their families.
The selected wards are Gobirawa, Kofar Ruwa, Kwachiri, Rijiyar Lemo, Dorayi, Kabuga, Chiranchi, Naibawa, Fanshekara, Bachirawa, Gayawa, Rijiyar Zaki and Ungogo.
The government particularly urged residents whose vaccination status is unknown, as well as those who received their last diphtheria vaccine dose more than 10 years ago, to visit designated vaccination centres.
“We call on residents, especially those whose immunisation status is unknown or who received their last dose more than 10 years ago, to make themselves and their families available for vaccination,” the statement said.
The state government described the vaccine as safe and effective and urged parents and other residents to encourage eligible family members to participate in the exercise.
It also advised residents to rely on health authorities for accurate information about diphtheria and vaccination.
The latest campaign follows the state government’s August appeal to the Federal Government for additional diphtheria vaccines to support mass immunisation across Kano.
The Director-General of the Kano State Centre for Disease Control, Prof. Muhammad Adamu Abbas, made the request while addressing journalists after reports of a diphtheria outbreak in Rano and other LGAs.
The Kano State House of Assembly had reported that more than 50 children died in the outbreak, but the state government disputed the figure.
