A total of 5.1 million people were immunised against cerebro spinal meningitis in Kaduna State during the exercise concluded on Nov. 11, an official of the state Primary Health Care Agency, has said.
Alhaji Hamza Ikara, the Health Education Officer of the agency, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Kaduna that the figure represented over 90 per cent of the targeted population.
He said the exercise, conducted in all the 23 local government areas of the state, was a great success, adding: “The state will not witness any outbreak in the coming years.”
NAN reports that the state had targeted 5.24 million residents during the immunisation exercise conducted between November 2 and November 11.
According to him, the state did not reach 100 per cent target due to shortage of vaccines and initial resistance by some of the targeted beneficiaries.
He disclosed that some of the people especially from ages 16 to 29 did not turn up as expected in the first three days of the exercise.
“We had to mobilise the youth and convince them before they started responding,” he added.
The official said new strategies would be adopted by the state government in conjunction with traditional leaders to ensure proper mobilisation of people in subsequent immunisation programmes.
He commended religious and traditional leaders for their contributions to the success of the immunisation exercise in the state. (NAN)
