The Ganye Local Government Council in Adamawa State has partnered with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to implement strategies aimed at improving access to immunization and promoting hygiene practices in the area.
Chairman of the Council, Mr. Farouq Mohammed, disclosed this on Tuesday during the official launch of the “Fathers for Good Health” initiative in Ganye.
Mohammed described health as a critical sector that requires strong community participation, assuring UNICEF and residents of the council’s full support for the initiative.
“As a government, we want to assure the Fathers for Good Health group inaugurated today that my administration will fully support and ensure the success of efforts to improve the health status of Ganye people,” he said.
He reaffirmed the council’s commitment to sustaining immunization, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programmes, and maternal health campaigns.
The chairman commended UNICEF for its continuous support, noting that the WASH initiative introduced by the agency had already started yielding positive results.
“With workshops, seminars, and awareness campaigns, people have started embracing the programme. Behavioral change is happening — open defecation is reducing, toilets are being built, and boreholes are being constructed across communities,” he said.
Also speaking, Mr. George Eki, UNICEF’s Social and Behavioral Change Specialist at the Bauchi Field Office, said the inauguration marked a new approach to strengthening community participation in immunization and hygiene promotion.
Eki explained that previous community engagement efforts focused mainly on women, but studies revealed that fathers’ resistance often hindered children from receiving vaccines.
“This gave birth to the Fathers for Good Health initiative, which began in Bauchi and has now expanded to Plateau, Borno, and Adamawa states,” he said.
“The idea is to involve fathers directly — as decision-makers in the home — so that they take ownership of their children’s health. The participation of the local government chairman today also demonstrates government commitment to sustainability.”
Eki expressed optimism that the initiative would increase vaccination rates, reduce disease outbreaks, and strengthen household hygiene practices in Ganye.
In his remarks, Dr. Jared Gangso, Secretary of the Ganye Primary Healthcare Development Agency, said 100 men had been selected for the programme, with 10 assigned to each ward across the council.
“In terms of immunization, they will go from house to house to mobilize families, bring children for vaccination, and improve coverage, thereby reducing outbreaks such as measles and cholera,” he said.
“With these measures, we can address more than 50 per cent of disease prevalence in the area.”
Gangso noted that Ganye remained among the communities with the highest number of maternal deaths in Nigeria, stressing that the new initiative would help register pregnant women and link them to healthcare facilities.
“I am optimistic that within a year, the health situation in Ganye will improve significantly — and with the support of fathers, the narrative will soon change,” he added.
