Kano Seeks Additional Diphtheria Vaccines From Federal Government 

The Kano State Government has appealed to the Federal Government to supply additional diphtheria vaccines to enable the state to conduct mass vaccination against the disease across the state.

The Director-General, Kano State Centre for Disease Control, Prof. Muhammad Abbas, requested this while addressing a news conference on Tuesday night. The press conference followed the reported outbreak of diphtheria in Rano and some local government areas, as raised by the State House of Assembly, which reportedly led to the deaths of more than 50 children, as the  State government has even written to the Federal Government to get more and more vaccines so that we can vaccinate our people. He, however, appealed to people of the state, especially parents, to ensure early reporting of diphtheria and other cases to health facilities for prompt treatment, as he expressed concern over the failure of people to report cases to healthcare facilities. He said there were a total of 126 disease surveillance and notification officers deployed across the 44 local government areas of the state. He said the centre had been on top of diphtheria since the coming of the present administration under the leadership of Governor Abba Yusuf. On Monday, the Kano State House of Assembly called on the governor to urgently intervene in a diphtheria outbreak that had reportedly killed over 50 children in Rano Local Government Area. The call followed a motion of urgent public importance moved by the member representing Rano Constituency, Ibrahim Muhammad, during Monday’s plenary, presided over by the Speaker, Ismail Falgore.

Written by News Room