The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Borno Youth Advocates have adopted new measures to improve the children’s vaccination uptake of 2.1 million and reduce child mortality in Borno State.

Joseph Senesie, Acting UNICEF Chief of Maiduguri Field Office, who spoke at the launch of the initiative in Maiduguri, Borno State Capital on Tuesday with the theme, “The ADOPT-A-PHC Challenge”, noted that 30 youths from the Community Vanguard would work with health workers in Maiduguri metropolis and Jere Councils to drive the campaigns at 10 Primary healthcare facilities.

According to him, the initiative targeted behavioural changes and mobilised caregivers to vaccinate their wards against childhood diseases and reduce vaccine-preventable deaths among children.

“Yeah, Today we adopted the innovative approach, where UNICEF is working with youth in Borno state to ensure children are vaccinated. As you all know, vaccination is critical to prevent disease, and we are talking about children that have never received vaccination, zero dose.

“So we are trying to catch up and ensure we get children vaccinated against measles, polio and the like. We are planning to immunize 2.1 million children against preventable deaths.

“UNICEF is providing technical capacity. UNICEF is providing the necessary financial support through donors, in particular the Canadian International. So UNICEF is in the background, doing all the support that’s needed to ensure these youths who are so vibrant in the community, can reach out to their communities to ensure vaccination rates are improved”, he noted.

Abdulkadir Ahmed, Project Coordinator, said that the initiative was aiming at countering misinformation and disinformation about vaccines in communities across Maiduguri Metropolitan and Jere councils areas of the State.

“This challenge is geared toward educating and campaigns to increase vaccination in the community but then there is resistance because of disinformation and misinformation as well as the fear of the safety of vaccines. So, the youths will be using our digital approach to correct this abnormalities in our communities”, he said.

Hassan Abubakar and Hajiya Yagana Shettima, Directors Primary Healthcare Maiduguri and Jere Councils, respectively, commended UNICEF for its unwavering commitment to the healthy children and society.