Polio: Kaduna Targets Nine LGAs in November Vaccination Campaign

By Uangbaoje Alex, Kaduna

The Kaduna State Primary Health Care Board has selected nine of the state’s 23 local government areas for a fresh polio vaccination campaign scheduled to commence on Saturday, November 7, 2026.

The nine selected local government areas are Igabi, Soba, Birnin Gwari, Chikun, Makarfi, Giwa, Kudan, Zaria and Ikara.

The State Health Educator of the Board, Isa Yusha’u, disclosed this on Wednesday during a media dialogue on Sub-National Immunisation Plus Days (SIDPs), organised by the Board with support from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Kaduna.

Yusha’u explained that the exercise, scheduled to run from November 7 to 10, was initially planned as a nationwide campaign but was restricted to selected states and local government areas due to financial constraints and competing priorities.

He said the decision to select the nine local government areas was based on findings from previous campaign assessments and polio surveillance indicators, including household coverage, missed children and confirmed cases of circulating variant poliovirus.

The selected local government areas are Igabi, Soba, Birnin Gwari, Chikun, Makarfi, Giwa, Kudan, Zaria and Ikara.

According to him, although all 23 local government areas recorded settlement coverage above 90 per cent and vaccination coverage above 90 per cent during the previous campaign, six had household coverage below the required 70 per cent benchmark, while five recorded more than five per cent missed children.

He identified Chikun and Makarfi among the areas with significant household coverage gaps, recording 49 per cent each, while their missed-child rates stood at 30 and 21 per cent respectively.

Yusha’u said Igabi and Soba were also selected because of high missed-child rates, while Soba additionally recorded a confirmed polio case.

He explained that Ikara was included because of its proximity to communities in neighbouring states and local government areas where polio transmission risks had been identified.

The health educator said the campaign would combine house-to-house vaccination with Directly Observed Polio Vaccination (DOPV) in selected locations where access challenges, parental refusals or concerns about the reliability of vaccination reports had been identified.

He said the directly observed exercise would commence on November 5 and 6, ahead of the main house-to-house campaign, with independent observers accompanying vaccination teams to verify that eligible children actually received the vaccine.

He added that music and other child-friendly approaches would be deployed to attract children to vaccination points, while additional two days would be provided for mop-up activities where monitoring revealed gaps in coverage.

Yusha’u further disclosed that the exercise would provide an opportunity to identify children who had missed routine immunisation, with designated fixed posts established in selected locations to administer other vaccines, including those against measles, tuberculosis and diphtheria.

He said vaccination teams would also visit schools, churches, mosques, playgrounds, football fields and other public gathering places to reach eligible children who might not be found at home.

The health educator called on parents, community leaders and the media to support the exercise by ensuring that all eligible children in the selected local government areas were reached.

Earlier, UNICEF Social and Behavioural Change Specialist, Kaduna Field Office, Ibrahim Muhammed, urged journalists, social media influencers and U-Reporters to use their platforms to promote vaccine acceptance and provide accurate information about the campaign.

Muhammed said effective communication should clearly explain who was eligible for vaccination, when the campaign would take place and where children could receive the vaccines.