The Sultan Foundation for Peace and Development (SFPD) has urged CBO-linked mobilisers to identify and connect every zero-dose child to the nearest vaccine facility across seven burdened Local Government Areas in Zamfara State. 

The foundation also tasked the 200 CBO-linked mobilisers to use the necessary tools and strictly follow up on children who conventional systems may have missed to ensure the success of the initiative.

The foundation’s Programme Officer in Zamfara State, Jamilu Sarkin-Gulbi, made the call during a one-day capacity-building workshop for the second batch of the 200 CBO-linked mobilisers drawn from the seven priority LGAs in Gusau on Wednesday.

The second batch of the CBO-linked mobilisers are from Bakura, Anka and Talata Mafara in Zamfara West.

The foundation had conducted similar training for mobilisers from Gusau and Tsafe local government areas in the first batch.

MrSarkin-Gulbi explained that some of the participants had already commenced the exercise following their screening and identification at the grassroots level by the CBOs.

He said the training was organised to strengthen the capacities of the mobilisers and equip them with the tools and skills required to effectively identify and track children who had yet to receive any routine immunisation.

The programme officer urged the mobilisers to validate existing records of zero-dose children in their assigned communities and identify additional children who might not have been captured in the District Health Information System (DHIS).

He emphasised the need to identify affected children, link them with appropriate routine immunisation service points and follow up to ensure they receive the required vaccines.

Mr Sarkin-Gulbi admonished the participants to diligently carry out the tasks, saying their efforts were critical to improving immunisation coverage in the state.

The foundation is implementing the Zamfara Tracking and Accountability for Equitable Immunisation (Z-TRACE) Project in collaboration with the Zamfara State Primary Health Care Development Agency.

The training focuses on zero-dose detection, defaulter tracing, infection prevention and control, gender and social inclusion-sensitive engagement, digital reporting and local government area budget tracking, among other areas.

The Z-TRACE project, a community-government model for finding, reaching and vaccinating zero-dose children, is being supported through the GAVI CSO Fund Manager Mechanism managed in Nigeria by Mannion Daniels.

Z-TRACE targets 80,772 children, representing a 30 per cent reduction out of the identified 269,421 zero-dose children burden in the state by the end of 2027, through the Find, Understand, Connect, Resolve, Verify and Learn model.

(NAN)