- New Poliovirus Cases Confirmed in Kano
- 2.5 million children vulnerable to threatening diseases
- Approximately 143,000 children under the age of five die each year in Kano
Three new cases of circulating variant poliovirus have been confirmed in Kano, once again putting children under the age of five at risk of the dangerous disease, Eko Hot Blog reports.
Circulating vaccine derived poliovirus (cVDPV) can lead to paralysis and spread from person to person. While this form of the virus is rare, it can cause outbreaks, especially in areas with low vaccination coverage.
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The new cases emerged just three months after eight previous cases were reported in Kano. Chief of UNICEF’s Kano Field Office, Rahama Rihood Mohamed Farah, revealed this on Tuesday during a media dialogue on child-sensitive budgeting in Kano.
Farah expressed concern that, despite efforts by the government to improve the wellbeing of children, current data reflects poor living conditions for many children in the state.
According to him, multi-dimensional data shows that approximately 143,000 children under the age of five die each year in Kano from various preventable diseases.
Referencing broader statistics involving around 6.5 million children, he noted that an estimated 2.9 million are not fully immunised. Farah emphasized that these figures highlight the urgent need to strengthen child survival initiatives in Kano.
Beyond these alarming numbers, the UNICEF representative also raised concerns over government underfunding and the decreasing allocation to key social sectors such as health, education, and social welfare, despite rising needs.
He criticized the lack of visibility for children’s needs in state budgets, where they are often absorbed into broader categories, leading to inadequate funding for crucial areas like nutrition, early childhood development, and child protection.
“To address these, UNICEF calls for action urging government to mandate child-sensitive budgeting across all MDAs in the MTEF submissions and annual budgets. Make child budgeting a standard agenda item.
“Champion increased and protected allocations for high-impact child survival, development, and protection programmes. Demand transparent, regular reporting on child expenditures and their impact.”
“We appealed to Media to report regularly on child wellbeing, budgets allocations, and service delivery gaps. Translate complex budget data into compelling stories that the public understands, provide a platform for discussions, and dialogue involving government, CSOs, communities, and children”. Farah said.
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