Sultan Foundation for Peace and Development (SFPD) on Tuesday commenced training of 38 traditional rulers on strategic campaign modalities to ensure maximum immunization coverage in Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara States.
The Senior Program Officer of SFPD, Mr Haruna Aliyu, said the 3-day step down training was supported by the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) preparatory for the November 2023 Immunization campaign.
Aliyu said participants were immunization focal persons from the emirate councils in the three states expected to educate their subjects toward successful immunization exercises.
He said that the exercise was to strengthen the capacity of emirates’ focal persons on resolving immunization challenges such as rejections, non compliance and other communal challenges during the campaigns.
In his presentation, the National Director Program of SFPD, Dr Aminu Inuwa, said the effort was sequel to the traditional rulers’ engagement on immunization gaps in the communities and other challenges in the three states.
Inuwa said the training was for ‘Fractional-dose Inactivated Poliovirus (fIPV), Novel Polio Vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) and Sub National Immunization Plus Days (SNIPDs) campaign strategies focused to strengthen Routine Immunization (RI) and campaigns modalities in the affected areas.
He dwelt on immunization performance and risk factors in the communities, outbreak transmission, strategies of improving uptake, importance of daily meetings and strategies for resolving non-compliance cases.
Inuwa underscored the importance of data collection, presentation as well as the role of house to house and social mobilizations, communication techniques and supervisions.
Dr Victor Gugong, led participants on roles of the traditional rulers on setting up vaccination posts, vaccination teams composition and selection as well as strategies of resolving disagreements.
In his remark, the Chairman, Sultanate Council’s Committee on Health, Alhaji Aliyu Attahiru, reiterated Sultanate council commitment to harness Northern Traditional Leaders Committee on Primary Healthcare (NTLC), SFPD and other agencies’ efforts on enhancing immunization activities.
Attahiru, who is Galadiman Garin Sokoto, described the training as important in recognition of the situation of community challenges, saying, ”it is the best solution to solve issues on immunization hitches.”
The Coordinators of Primary Healthcare Development Agencies from the three states made presentations on circulating Variant Polio Virus (cVPV2) outbreaks and axis of intractable transmissions in their respective states.
