SAN FRANCISCO, September 13, (THEWILL) – The Borno State Government on Friday blamed the recent increase in the rate of polio cases in the state on Boko Haram.
The State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Salma Anas-Kolo, who disclosed this, also put the cases of polio recorded so far in the state this year at 14.
She said the general insecurity in many parts of the state had made it impossible for health workers to immunise children in the state.
Speaking at a sensitisation programme for traditional leaders in the state, the commissioner said Borno has 14 cases of polio out of the nation’s 37 and the global 44 cases.
Anas -Kolos said it had become necessary to embark on the sensitisation programme so as to meet the 2014 World Health Organisation (WHO)’s target of eradicating polio.
Explaining that Maiduguri was chosen for the kick off of the sensitisation programme because it recorded the highest cases of polio in the state, the commissioner said it was not all a sad story because the incidences could have been higher but for the dedication of health workers who dare the insecurity to move into some areas to immunise the children.
The Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Abubakar Ibn Garbai Al-Amin Elkanemi, who hosted the sensitisation programme at his palace, urged his people to immunise their children against the five killer diseases.
He also called on all traditional institutions in the state to intensify effort towards fighting polio,saying the government will not give them any drug that will harm them.
