By Chioma Umeha
The Kaduna State Government has urged parents to
present their children under the age of five for immunization against polio or
face prosecution.
Speaking to journalists, on the ongoing
vaccination exercise, the State Commissioner for Health Services, Dr Paul Dogo,
said that the door-to-door immunization campaign is aimed at ensuring that
Kaduna is free from polio and other child killer diseases.
While reminding parents that the vaccination is
compulsory, Dr Dogo emphasized that the aim is to ensure that at least three
million children across the 23 local government areas of the state are
immunized during the exercise.
He also said that a team had been deployed to work
with officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps at partial roadblocks to
vaccinate children on transit along the highways.
Kaduna state last recorded an outbreak of polio in
2012.
Since then, the state government had embarked on
series of campaigns to ensure that the disease is completely wiped out of the
state.
A major challenge being faced by health officials,
however, is the unwillingness of some parents to allow their children to be
immunized.
While commending parents, religious and
traditional institutions in the state for their support in previous immunization
campaigns, the Commissioner said that government would not tolerate a situation
where the laxity of some parents exposes their children to a bleak future.
