In order to improve the lives of children in Gombe state, Governor Alhaji Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya has volunteered to serve as the champion of the wild polio eradication campaign in the North-east geo political zone.
This was contained in a press release signed and made available to journalists in Gombe by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Samaila Uba Misilli.
The Governor has also undertaken to convene a conference of all the six governors of the zone to discuss the strategy of ending the scourge.
He said that the Governor made the commitment during a meeting with the leadership of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, comprising of the Country Director, Dr. Paulins Basinga, Deputy Country Director for Health Caroline Appiah and her counterpart for Policy and Advocacy, Tijjani Mohammed in Abuja.
The Governor expressed concern that over 60, 000 children are still not covered by immunization due to the insurgency in the Northeast.
He said the insufficient coverage is capable of undermining the eradication campaign thereby leading to a derived polio infection in the region.
Governor Yahaya assured the Bill and Melinda Gates delegation that he will personally and directly be involved during the flag off of polio immunization in Gombe as a demonstration of his commitment to ending the wild poliovirus in Nigeria and Africa as a whole.
He lauded development partners and donor agencies for their interventions in various areas and assured of his administration’s readiness to strengthen the already existing partnership with BMG.
Earlier, the Country Director of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Dr. Paulins Basinga said the global humanitarian body has been working in Gombe state for the past 10 years in areas of health, education, agriculture and human capital development among others.
