Some 1.2 million children have been targeted for vaccination against polio and other diseases in Nigeria's northern state of Bauchi, the official News Agency of Nigeria reported on Tuesday.

Malam Aminu Abubakar, deputy chairman of the state's Social Mobilization Committee, was quoted as saying that "the committee has earmarked 1.3 million vaccines for the one-week program."

The committee had recruited and trained 3,000 workers for the exercise, he said, adding that more than 49 polio cases had been identified in 13 local government areas of the state.

Abubakar said the three most endemic local council areas were Bauchi with 12 cases, Gamawa with six and Katagum with five cases.

The committee, he explained, had embarked on enlightenment campaigns involving traditional and religious leaders to ensure the success of the vaccination in the 706 health districts of the state.

Abubakar called on the media "to assist in enlightening parents on the need to ensure that their children are immunized."

Since the beginning of this year, Nigeria has spent 30 million U.S. dollars on polio vaccine procurement, said Edugie Abebe, interim national coordinator of Nigeria' National Program on Immunization (NPI)

She added that Nigeria, the most populous country in African with a population of over 140 million, was worst hit by poliomyelitis, recording more than 80 percent of the cases in the world.

The other countries in the world with a high incidence of the disease are India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, she added.

Source: Xinhua