February 7, 2025
Vunoklang, Hayin Gada, Off Mubi Road, jimeta - Yola, Adamawa State, Nigeria
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UN Polio Day: People Living with Disabilities calls on parents, caregivers to avail their children for polio vaccine as the globe marks Day.

 

 

By: Aisha Mohammed

 

Network of People Living with Disabilities in Adamawa State has urged parents and caregivers, especially mothers, to ensure their children under five receive polio and other vaccines, as well as routine immunizations, to protect them from preventable diseases that cause deformities and death.

They made the call during a road walk campaign to commemorate United Nations Polio Day in Yola, Adamawa State.

The Chairman of the Network of People Living with Disabilities, Adamawa State, Abdullahi Tongo, and the Women Leader of the National Association of Persons with Physical Disabilities, Godiya Simon, shared how polio impacted their dreams, preventing them from reaching the peak of their careers due to physical disabilities caused by the virus.

Some persons with lower limbs disabilities during the road walk campaign in Adamawa State

They urged parents and caregivers to vaccinate children against polio and other vaccine-preventable diseases to help them reach their full potential.

In a message commemorating World Polio Day 2024, the Regional Director of the World Health Organization, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, conveyed through the State Coordinator Ahemen Terseer, described the fight against polio as a reflection on a decade of challenges and triumph, noting the resilience of the human spirit in overcoming adversity through shared purpose and commitment.

Road walk campaign to sensitize the public on the importance of polio vaccine for their under five.

Dr. Moeti emphasized the importance of strong political commitment and the need for renewed collaboration, especially along borders, government leaders and partners to develop coordinated plans for eradicating variant polio virus in Nigeria and globally.

In a remark, Commissioner for Health and Human Services, Felix Tangwami, represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Zira Mathias highlighted the dangers of the Polio virus and pleaded with parents and other well-meaning individuals to champion the fight to eradicate the virus.

Expressing delight over the turnout of well-meaning individuals to join in the road walk, Executive Chairman, Primary HealthCare Development Agency, Dr. Suleiman Bashir said the campaign is a strategy aimed at renewing commitment and actions into the Polio eradication efforts, calling on critical stakeholders not to relent in the fight to eradicate the disease.

Religious and traditional leaders in Adamawa State, who joined the road walk, pledged relentless commitment towards polio eradication in the state.

 

The walk, which began at the Specialist Hospital Jimeta, drew attention from commuters and covered key areas, including the Jimeta shopping complex, before returning to the Specialist Hospital.

The United Nations Polio Day campaign reflected on a decade of challenges and triumph to overcome adversity through shared purpose and commitment and the need for renewed global collaboration to eradicate polio.

Climax of the road walk campaign organized by Adamawa State Ministry of Health and Human Services, the State Primary HealthCare Development Agency in collaboration with the World Health Organization and other partners was presentation of awards to key stakeholders in recognition of their efforts in enhancing healthcare services at the grassroots level.

 

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