Kano Parents Apply Fake Ink on Children to Avoid Polio Vaccination

Ibrahim Shuaibu in Kano

A traditional ruler in Ungogo Local Government Area of Kano State, Alhaji Abdulkadir Ahmed, thursday threatened to order the arrest of any defiant parent against polio vaccination exercise in the area.

This followed a report that some parents are now personally thump printing their wards with fake inks to deceive the vaccinators that their children had received polio vaccine.

Journalists Against Polio (JAP) observed that the polio vaccination procedure include marking fingers of the vaccinated children with delible ink to avoid omission, but some smart parents have now resolved to painting their wards with fake inks to avoid the vaccination as reported by some health officials.

Ahmed, who is the District Head of the local government area, gave the warning when an official of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Naziru Salihu, raised the alarm of fake thump printing during the evening review meeting of the just concluded July round of routine immunisation exercise against polio in the state.

Salihu explained that during their visit to some households in the area, some parents claimed their wards had been vaccinated against polio by some health officials.

He disclosed that the parents used the usual mark of thumb printing on the children’s fingers, but it was discovered that the suspicious inks used by the parents were quite different to that of the vaccinators.

Reacting to the development, the District Head said the traditional rulers and other key stakeholders would not tolerate any calculated move capable of undermining the unrelenting efforts of stakeholders gearing towards eradicating polio virus in the state.

He, however sounded note of warning to the defiant parents to refrain from the act or face the wrath of the law.