By Murtala Muhammad
Bauchi State Primary Health Care Board, in collaboration with the Sultan Foundation, has engaged influential religious leaders from twenty local government areas ahead of the Measles/Rubella Integrated Vaccination Campaign.
The statewide exercise, scheduled to run from 18 to 27 October, targets children aged nine to fifty-nine months for Measles/Rubella vaccines, and nine-year-old girls for the Human Papilloma Virus, HPV, vaccine.
Emir of Dass, Alhaji Usman Bilyaminu Othman, explained that the engagement was to enlighten religious leaders on the importance of immunisation so they could spread the message to their congregations.
The Emir, who also chairs the Bauchi State Emirate Councils Committee on Health, BASECCOH, said messages delivered by clerics during sermons carry great influence in shaping community opinions on health matters.
He assured that necessary arrangements, including staff training, logistics, and vaccine supply, had been concluded, adding that the campaign would last ten days with an additional two days for mop-up.
Executive Chairman of the State Primary Health Care Board, Dr Rilwanu Mohammed, said the exercise would take place at health facilities and designated fixed posts, urging parents to bring out their children for vaccination.
Programme Officer of the Sultan Foundation, Dr Ali Sama’ila, appreciated the clerics for their participation and charged them to extend the vaccination message to the grassroots in their respective areas.
A Bauchi-based Islamic scholar, Malam Attahiru Baƙoji, reaffirmed that Islam supports vaccination, stressing that medical experts have certified the vaccines as safe and effective in protecting children’s health.
