By Victor Adeoti
Immunisation is a global health success story. It saves millions of lives every year.
Vaccines reduce risk of contracting a disease by working with one’s body natural defenses to build protection. When vaccine is administered the body’s immune system responds favourably to foreign attacks.
For decades, Nigeria has faced persistent challenges in achieving adequate Routine Immunisation (RI) coverage, which was further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Medical experts attribute these challenges to a variety of factors, including ineffective supply chains and poor service delivery.
They say others include inadequate human resources, low demand due to negative perceptions, religious and cultural influences.
According to them, the number of unvaccinated children in Nigeria rose from 2.5 million in 2011 to 3.2 million in 2012, contributing to 40 per cent of all vaccine-preventable deaths among children under five in the same year.
This large number of unvaccinated children is referred to as zero-dose children.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) say immunisation currently prevents 3.5 million to 5 million deaths every year from diseases like diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, influenza and measles.
The UN body say the gains of immunisation suffered a setback as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which strained health systems, resulting in even more dramatic setbacks in such countries as Nigeria
According to WHO, in 2023, the routine first dose of measles vaccine was missed by 22 million children, far from the 2019 level of 19.3 million children
Similarly, the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) say violent conflicts, displacement, COVID-19 related disruptions, and vaccine misinformation had cut children off from routine immunisations.
According to UNICEF, No fewer than 25 million children miss out on the “life-saving vaccines” every year, placing them at risk of preventable diseases like measles and pertussis.
The UN body say the most poor and marginalised children often most in need of vaccines continued to be the least likely to get them.
Also, the 2021 Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey/National Immunisation Survey Coverage (MICS/NICS) revealed that among children aged 12–23 months in Nigeria, 17.8 per cent did not receive any recommended routine vaccination.
Only 51.9 per cent receive full immunisation for the basic antigens in urban areas.
Health experts say benefits of vaccines are fully experienced when children receive all recommended vaccine doses in a timely manner, but which millions of Nigerian children are yet to get.
The recent resurgence of measles, cholera, and poliovirus in Nigeria is a warning that political leaders need to step up efforts in making sure that every child who has been left out is vaccinated.
Celine Lafoucriere, Chief UNICEF Field Officer, South-West, Nigeria, said that immunisation is an essential right of every Nigerian child in preventing life threatening diseases and infection.
Lafoucriere said at a two-day media dialogue in Lagos recently that 2.3 million children had yet to receive vaccines in Nigeria.
The media dialogue has as its theme “A media Dialogue To Enhance Routine Immunisation and Reduce Zero Dose Children”.
“We still have a very pressing challenge in Nigeria where 2.3 million children still have received no vaccines at all.
“These are called the zero doze children and are mostly in marginalised areas, hard to reach areas and vaccines remain essential to their health.
“Vaccine is an essential fundamental right to every child and they remain fundamental to improving health outcomes and reducing inequalities,” she said.
Lafoucriere said to address this challenge, UNICEF in partnership with government and other partners had prioritised areas with the highest concentration of zero dose children.
She said that the idea was to increase the rate of vaccinated children by 50 per cent each year and 30 per cent by 2025.
“To achieve this in Nigeria, UNICEF together with its the government and other partners, we have prioritised 100 local government areas across 18 states with the highest concentration of those zero dose children that need us.
“Theyneed us right now and we need you, the media, to join hands to accelerate the rate of immunisation in Nigeria to ensure that by each year we increase the rate of vaccinated children by 50 per cent.
“This cannot be done without you, please join hands with us today to ensure that we can leverage your influence,” Lafoucriere said.
She also appealed to the media to assist UNICEF in the sensitisation of Nigerians on the importance of vaccines.
“Your own influence is very important. You can catalyse actions, help dispel rumours and misinformation about vaccines.
“By working collectively, we can build a resilience health system that is capable of reaching each and every child leaving no one behind.
“No matter where they live, we must ensure that no child in Nigeria suffers from preventable diseases,” Lafoucriere said.
Mrs Aderonke Akinola-Akinwole, UNICEF Social and Behaviour Change Specialist urged greater commitment from the government and stakeholders to address vaccine coverage challenges.
Akinola-Akinwole said many Nigerian communities harboured misconceptions about vaccines, with some believing that because previous generations survived without them, current generations did not need them.
She warned that such beliefs were dangerous and urged for a culturally sensitive approach to dispel these myths.
“Ignorance is never an excuse. Just because someone survived without vaccines doesn’t mean another child will,” Akinola-Akinwole said.
Also speaking, Dr Akinpelu Ademola, the Immunisation Programme Coordinator, Lagos State Primary Healthcare Board, said the target of the state was to provide protection for residents by getting as many people as possible vaccinated.
“If you look at the totality of how you prevent diseases, the first step is vaccination before you start looking for other lifestyle changes and treatment.
“And if we can get a good number of our population, ideally we say 90 per cent, vaccinated, we would have done well.
“But our target as a state is to make sure that every child is vaccinated.
“We don’t want to leave any child behind. And what that means is that, once you get that target, there’s a ripple effect.”
Akinpelu added that the immunity gaps created by the covid-19 lockdown would be closed by an aggressive statewide immunisation campaign in Lagos, which is projected to vaccinate about 21 million residents.
Medical experts say the recent resurgence of cholera, measles, poliovirus in Nigeria is a signal that political leaders needs to scale up efforts in closing the gaps in the number of unvaccinated children in the country.