The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has urged the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Katsina state governments to strengthen their primary health care (PHC) system for better and more effective service delivery.

The Officer in Charge (OIC) of UNICEF, Kano Office, Micheal Banda, made the call during a media dialogue on the polio campaign organised by the agency in collaboration with the Kano State Primary Healthcare Development Agency on Friday in Kano.

Mr Banda urged the three state governments to implement the “Nigeria Primary Health Care Under One Roof Policy’’ to ensure one-stop functional primary health care centres per ward.

He stressed the need for the governments of the three states to ensure an integrated package of primary health services for families in one functional health facility.

He added, “UNICEF would continue to support the primary healthcare system to ensure at least one functional PHC in each local government area of Kano, Katsina, and the country at large.’’

The UNICEF OIC said boosting routine immunisation would help eradicate polio and childhood killer diseases from the country.

He explained that strengthening the PHC system and making routine polio immunisation a top priority are critical to child survival, hence the urgent need for stakeholders to collaborate and ensure that children below five years receive all vaccines.

The OIC described the media as partners in progress, crucial in managing misinformation about vaccines.

He said, “I urge the media to create the demand for immunisation and to raise awareness about the importance of vaccines by providing accurate information to caregivers, families, and communities.’’

Earlier, Nasir Mahmoud, the director-general, Kano State Primary Healthcare Management Agency, said polio immunisation campaigns would be held between April 20 and 23 in Kano, Katsina, and Jigawa states.

He added that the exercise was targeted at children between the ages 0 and 59 months in the three states.

Mr Mahmoud noted that the Kano State government had put modalities in place to make the campaign a success, saying “the polio vaccine campaign has already started in some selected areas.’’

He stressed the need for public enlightenment, attributing the low immunisation coverage in the last few years and non-functional primary healthcare centres as some of the major catalysts for the current situation.

“Currently in Kano, there is a global mission presence to curtail the situation, and the Kano State government will provide all the necessary support to achieve the desired objectives,” he said.

(NAN)