The Zamfara State Government has restated its unwavering commitment to completely eradicating polio within the state, pledging continued collaboration with local and international health partners.
Dr. Husaini Yakubu, Executive Secretary of the Zamfara Primary Healthcare Board, made this known during the 2025 World Polio Day celebration held on Saturday at the Emir of Gusau’s Palace.
The event brought together polio survivors, government officials, and representatives from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), among others.
Yakubu applauded the active involvement of stakeholders in the state’s ongoing polio and rubella vaccination campaign, describing their participation as highly encouraging. He credited the significant progress made in the fight against polio to strong collaboration between the state government and its partners.
He also lauded Governor Dauda Lawal for declaring a state of emergency in the health sector, a move he said had bolstered health outcomes across Zamfara.
“In spite of the challenges of insecurity, the state has maintained its polio-free status,” Yakubu said. “We will continue to collaborate with partners and all stakeholders to ensure children in the state are strongly protected from killer diseases. The state government will continue to pay all required counterpart funding for various healthcare development programmes.”
In his goodwill message, the Emir of Gusau, Alhaji Abdulkadir Ibrahim-Bello, reaffirmed the Emirate’s dedication to the eradication of polio across the state.
Represented by the Secretary of the Emirate, Sambo Sambo, the Emir pledged to keep mobilising religious and community leaders to sustain progress in vaccination efforts.
“We are ready to continue collaborating with the state government, WHO, UNICEF, and other partners to maintain the successes recorded in polio eradication in the state,” he said. “We will continue to engage our subjects and sensitise them on the significance of the health benefits of polio vaccination. We are achieving success in sensitising our subjects, and we are seeing more acceptance of polio and measles vaccination exercises from parents and communities. Our people are responding to all activities, and they obey all the directives given by the emirate, which has led to various successes recorded.”
