The coordinating minister of health and social welfare, Prof. Ali Pate, on Saturday, solicited more collaboration to improve immunisation activities in Sokoto State.

Mr Pate made the call when he led a team of officials from the Global Alliance Vaccine Initiative (GAVI) on courtesy visits to Sokoto state deputy governor Idris Gobir and Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar in Sokoto.

The team also comprised officials from World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations Children and Education Fund (UNICEF), World Bank and National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA).

The minister described immunisation as a critical path to ending all forms of diseases, observing that success of the exercise required a robust collaboration between the state government, traditional institutions and all other stakeholders.

He said the essence of the visits was to identify suitable platforms for curbing the spread of the diseases and strengthen collaboration towards impactful partnerships to eliminate preventable diseases through vaccination.

”We are here to engage traditional institutions, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and government on meaningful ways to ensure immunisation success through vaccines.

”We appreciate the Northern Traditional Leaders Council (NTLC) on Immunisation for their support, which ensures that no child is left behind,” Mr Pate said.

Mr Pate said the efforts were in line with President Bola Tinubu’s administration’s health sector renewal investment initiative, as testified by the signing of the health renewal compact by the federal and state governments and development partners.

In his remarks, the executive director of NPHCDA, Dr Muyi Aina, said the delegation was a demonstration of commitment to enhance immunisation coverage and availability of vaccines.

Mr Aina said the GAVI chief executive, appointed last two weeks, deemed it fit to visit Nigeria and Sokoto state in particular, to solicit royal blessings and consolidate on partnership to improve immunisation activities and the health sector in general.

The executive officer of GAVI, Dr Sania Nishtar, underscored the important roles played by traditional rulers in improving people’s health, adding that they facilitated more action on immunisation acceptance and paved the way for wider reach in society.

Ms Nishtar said GAVI provided vaccines and consumables at the doorsteps of communities, while traditional rulers and governments facilitated acceptance.

“Nigeria is a very special country in Africa, it is a special country in the world and it is a very special country for us in GAVI.

“There is an adage in GAVI that says, ‘there is no success for GAVI without success in Nigeria,” she said.

She assured the organisation’s readiness to collaborate with the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, states and traditional institutions to leverage health policy instruments and technical expertise to advance health outcomes in Nigeria.

According to her, based on the financial and other commitments from GAVI, there is no reason for a child to be left out on immunisation.

In separate remarks, Mr Gobir and Mr Abubakar assured more support for immunisation and other healthcare programmes, adding that the state government had made adequate arrangements to provide the services.

They said budgetary allocations and payment of counterfund were ensured to facilitate more proactive actions on healthcare delivery across the state.

The duo appreciated the visitors for their commitment and pledged more support to ensure the success of the exercise.

The Sultan later chaired a meeting between NTLC members and the visitors on proactive ways to address shortcomings in immunisation coverage and other constraints affecting smooth immunisation activities.

Sokoto state had recorded 61 cases of poliovirus type 2 (CVDPV2), which experts attributed to the inability of parents to bring forth their wards for immunisation as well as security challenges affecting the state.

(NAN)