By Nura Haruna Mudi
The Kano State Government has introduced a register at cemeteries across the state for daily record of data of dead persons so as to secure reliable information to support its healthcare system.
The move, according to Commissioner for Health, Dr. Labaran Yusuf, is to also combat the spread of fake news and misinformation about the death being recorded from outbreak of diseases in the state.
Dr. Yusuf, who announced this at the African vaccination Week in Kura local government area on Sunday, specifically cited the recent case of Gun-dutse village in Kura LGA where 40 people were reported dead instead of six.
He said that fake news in the health sector is causing problems for his ministry, hence the reason for introducing the death register in the hospitals and cemeteries to check the menace.
The Commissioner also lamented that the infant mortality rate is still high and challenging in the state.
According to him, many of the victims were malnourished which made it necessary for the government to support parents with nutritional value mechanism and to use routine immunization to arrest the situation.
He said the previous administration neglected the vaccination system in the state, adding that the development left many children unvaccinated and contributed to the rise of diphtheria cases.
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“We are taking outbreak responses very seriously as the state is also experiencing measles outbreak every year due to parents’ neglect of vaccines for their wards.” He added.
To bridge the gap, the commissioner said the state governor Abba Kabir Yusuf will soon inaugurate a vaccination taskforce to be led by the state Deputy Governor, Aminu Abdulsalam Gwarzo to ensure effective routine immunization in the state.