More than two million children have been administered polio vaccines in rural communities of Jigawa, Niger, Taraba and Zamfara states in the past one year. Dr. Esther Obinya, a UNICEF Health Specialist and National Coordinator of the Hard To Reach Project (HTR) stated this on Saturday in a chat with NAN correspondents. She said the initiative was sponsored by Global Affairs Canada in conjunction with UNICEF.
She admitted that the HTR, which is aimed at eradicating polio and strengthening health care in remote communities, is enjoying support from the federal, state and local governments in all the four high-risk states where the project is ongoing.
She hinted that so far, over 3, 000 remote settlements have been visited by the team at least thrice since the initiative started in 2016.
She listed some of the problems confronting the group to include communal clashes, hazardous terrain and difficulty in getting right technical personnel especially nurses.
