Foundation strategises against polio, child killer diseases

The Sultan Foundation for Peace and Development has engaged religious and traditional rulers in the north in a capacity building workshop with a view to strategising against the re-emergence of polio and other child-killer diseases in Muslim communities.

Speaking at the workshop with the theme ‘Developing the Capacity of State Focal Persons for Better Programme Management’, the Mai Bade, Alhaji Abubakar Umar Sulieman said there has been no case of polio in muslim communities for some years.

He said, “Since the inception of the foundation in 2014, we have been able to spend 17 months polio free due to the awareness campaigns we embarked upon and the assistance in terms of funds that we have been receiving for our partners until three or four months ago when refugees were brought back from Cameroon and brought back two cases of polio from Borno State.”

He said the effort is geared towards ensuring that diseases such as polio do not resurface in Muslim communities as well as account for intervention funds provided by the United Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

The chairman of the foundation, Alhaji Aminu Muhammad said it was established in 2014 with the aim of promoting development, peaceful coexistence, tolerance and better understanding of Islam as well as provision of humanitarian aid to the needy and vulnerable in Nigeria.