A cross section of journalists during the roundtable dialogue in Sokoto
BY ANKELI EMMANUEL, Sokoto –
Journalists in Sokoto State have appealed to the state government to possibly pass a law making polio and other vaccines non compliance a criminal offence.
This, according to the media professionals could possibly be the only workable solution should the state wants a permanent polio free status.
They made the call during a United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) media dialogue with journalists, On Air Personalities (OAPs) and influencers to commence the 2025 immunization week with the theme,”Dosage of Good News”.
The media professionals also appealed for continued engagement and advocacy to end menace.
In his remarks at the event which held at the conference Hall of UNICEF Sokoto Field Office, the UNICEF Sokoto Chief of Field Office, Mr Micheal Juma, said there is the need for process evaluation as far as the Immunization status of the state was concerned.
“”Though, the state is making the needed progress, however, there is the need to do an evaluation of the processes used all these while to determine how best to achieve the desired results””.
While noting that the state had recorded 4 cases of polio in 2025, Mr. Juma appealed for a declaration of state of emergency on polio, warning that the 4 cases can spread to unimaginable number of children.
He also called for effective monitoring of the vaccinators to forestall false finger marking, even as he appealed to journalists to feature polio survivors in their stories as stack reminder for non compliant parents to do the right thing so that their wards will not be like the survivors.
Responding to the plea by journalists, on why there should be a law against vaccine non compliance, the state Special Adviser, Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr Faruku Abubakar divulged that the process towards actualizing the law was ongoing.
On his part, Sokoto UNICEF Field Office Health Specialists, Mesele Yemane said one of the most critical challenges confronting immunization acceptability is high concentration of misinformation, thus, appealing that information should be sourced from the right sources.
Yemane, who noted that since the introduction of Polio vaccine in 1988, it has helped to reduce number of children getting infected by 99.9 percent, however, added that the vaccine is scientifically proven to be very safe.
On their parts, Sokoto State Emergency and Routine Immunization Programme Manager, Nasiru Abubakar and the Executive Secretar, Sokoto State Primary Health Care Development Agency (SSPHCDA), Dr Larai Tambuwal reassured that they will ensure massive and strict house to house monitoring, and supervision so that vaccinators do not compromise using false finger marking.
They also appealed to media professionals to help in the campaign by ensuring that they speak, write and educate the populace on the importance of polio vaccine admission.
Stating why effective collaboration with the media remained critical to actualizing a polio free society, UNICEF Communications Specialist, Priyanka Khanna and his Assistant Sokoto Field Office, Salahuddeen Bello Bala urged the media to help inform the public about the myths, and other untrue narratives given to polio by non compliant households.
