The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Dangote Foundation have met with the Yobe State government to appraise progress of routine immunization in the state.
Co-Chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Mr Bill Gates, the Chairman of the Dangote Foundation, Aliko Dangote and Yobe State Government met on Wednesday to appraise the progress made in the fight against polio and other eight child killer diseases in Yobe State.
The meeting was joined through video feed by Mr Bill Gates and Aliko Dangote both in the United States and Yobe State government in Damaturu, the state capital.
The video feed meeting had in attendance various developmental partners who pledged to give their all in the fight against the nine child killer diseases.
The meeting observed that 15 local governments out of the 17 in Yobe State were effectively covered during the period under review.
It was stated that the remaining local governments; Gujba and Gulani had suffered insurgency greatly and needed to be covered.
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Dangote and Yobe State had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in January on strengthening routine immunisation in the security threatened North East state of Nigeria.
The Yobe State Governor, Ibrahim Gaidam, informed the meeting that his administration was committed to the MoU to ensure that the nine child killer diseases are eradicated from the state and Nigeria in general.
He said that the state would ensure full coverage of the ongoing support for the routine immunisation programme through community engagement, particularly the use of traditional rulers.
Mr Bill Gates and Aliko Dangote commended the Yobe State government for the remarkable progress made despite insurgency.
They urged the state government to work towards meeting the 2017 targets of countering all the nine child killer diseases.
Dangote pledged to partner the Yobe State government in the reconstruction of the 22 health facilities destroyed in Gujba and Gulani LGAs of the state by the Boko Haram militants.