By Chioma Obinna

Health experts, on Wednesday in Lagos, raised the alarm that the 2.3 million Nigerian children who have never received a single dose of routine vaccines were at risk of preventable diseases even death.

This is coming on the heels of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO), UNICEF, Gavi and the state government, deploying The Zero-Dose Reduction Operational Planning (ZDROP) initiative.

The initiative is designed to identify, reach, and vaccinate children who have never been immunised.

To this end, the Lagos State government is targeting 0 to 44-year-old Lagosians for supplementary immunisation.

Speaking in Lagos, the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, Chief of Field Office, South West Nigeria, Celine Lafoucriere, who disclosed the zero immunisation situation at a media dialogue on routine immunisation, posited that vaccine remains essential to children’s health, as it is a fundamental human right.

Lafoucriere noted that about 2.3 million Nigerian children have not received a single dose of any vaccine.

She further called on the stakeholders, including the media to bridge the gap in immunisation nationwide.

Challenges

In her presentation, the Social and Behaviour Specialist, UNICEF, Aderonke Akinola-Akinwole, listed the challenges fuelling zero-dose (unimmunised) children in Nigeria as inadequate health facilities, long travel time to access available facilities and security-compromised areas.

He said the japa challenge has also led to increasing workload for health workers.

Other challenges she listed included low funding commitment for routine immunisation servicescapes, inadequate information about routine immunisation, low community participation and an overwhelming rise in misinformation and vaccine hesitancy.

To address vaccine inequity, ensuring no child is left behind; she explained that UNICEF provides the required vaccines for all children irrespective of class, race, or democracy, focusing more on the most marginalised children.

“UNICEF works with the government of Nigeria and other international partners in procuring high-quality and potent vaccines and making them available in the country.

“It invests in ensuring that the cold chain system for protecting the potency of the vaccine is available and also caters for the movement of these vaccines to where they are needed, thereby ensuring it reaches the last child at the last mile.”

Lagos launches immunisation campaign

Meanwhile, the Lagos state is set to conduct a state-wide supplementary immunisation Campaign billed to be held on the 19th of October 2024.

The Lagos State Primary Health Care Board (PHCB), Immunisation Programme Coordinator, Dr Adetola Akinpelu, disclosed that the state will be integrating Measles, Yellow Fever (YF), HPV and also routine immunisation zero doses.

“The idea of this initiative is to address immunity gaps in the population not reached by routine immunisation; to achieve 95 per cent vaccination coverage for Measles (PCCS) & nOPV2 (LQAS), and 80 per cent coverage for YF (PCCS).

“We will be providing a second opportunity to receive measles and YF vaccinations in eligible children and the first opportunity for YF vaccines in older populations.

“Our target is to achieve more than 8 per cent coverage of zero-dose children in the 20 LGAs.

“Lagos state would implement 20 LGAs, 376 wards with 7109 teams operating as fixed posts (355 teams), temporarily fixed posts and house-to-house teams (6754) with a total of nine persons per team.

“The campaign will be implemented for 14 days.”