The Katsina State Government, in collaboration with UNICEF, has renewed commitment to the fight against child preventable diseases by ensuring that no child was left behind, and no life loss to preventable diseases like polio.
The State First Lady, Hajiya Zulaihat Dikko-Radda, made the disclosure at the commemoration of the 2025 World Polio Day, on Friday in Katsina.
She, therefore, charged mothers and caregivers to intensify efforts in taking their children to health centers for vaccination to build their future.
“Let’s renew our promise that no child will be left behind, no life will be lost to preventable diseases, and that the dream of Polio Free World will be a reality,” she advocated.
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Mrs. Dikko-Radda said that the barrier was not the absence of vaccines or healthcare workers who would deliver the vaccination.
“Vaccine resistance resulting from misinformation and fear continued to endanger the health of our children.
“A new challenge stands before us is the circulating Variant Polio Virus type 2 (cVPV2). It is silent, but dangerous,” she said.
The governor’s wife noted that the vaccine had carefully been formulated, safe and remained the powerful weapon against diseases like polio.
In her remarks, the UNICEF Chief of Field Office, Kano, Mr. Rahama Mohammed-Farah, said that polio eradication was within the reach, but success depends on collaborative efforts to sustain the resolve.
Represented by the UNICEF Child Protection Specialist, Ms. Fatima Adamu, Mohammed-Farah, said, in Katsina, the number of cases dropped significantly from 17 in eight LGAs in 2024, to two in Danmusa LGA in 2025.
“The fight is not yet over; polio has no cure but is preventable. With safe vaccines, no child should suffer from a disease that is preventable.
“Our immunization campaign must reach every child. Vaccines remained the strongest weapon against paralysis and death.
“Children deserved a polio free future, we can make it the second human disease ever eradicated and protect children of generation to come.
“We’ve come too far to turn back. Let’s finish the job – and make polio a history,” she stressed.
She urged the wives of Local Government Chairmen to intensify efforts in sensitizing mothers and caregivers on the need to vaccinate their eligible children.
NAN
