The development is increasing the risk of outbreaks and
child mortality due to vaccine-preventable diseases.
Immunization is one of the most cost-effective proven tools
for controlling and eliminating life-threatening infectious diseases and is
estimated to avert about three million deaths every year.
To combat vaccine-preventable childhood killer diseases, the
World Health Organization (WHO) recommends Routine immunization (RI) for all
children and appropriate vaccination through the life course.
Current vaccines for routine childhood vaccination in
Nigeria protect children against tuberculosis, hepatitis B, Polio, diphtheria,
pertussis, tetanus, Haemophilus influenza type b, pneumococcal disease,
rotavirus, measles Yellow fever and meningitis.
The Government of Nigeria, in collaboration with WHO, with
funding from GAVI, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and other partners,
have been implementing free routine immunization programmes across public
health facilities in the country.
At Kuje General Hospital, Kuje Area Council, Abuja, the
immunization clinic operates Mondays to Fridays and administers all recommended
antigens for all children under two years
For a caregiver like Mrs Edna Lawrence, her 9-month-old
daughter (Ose) has not missed any of her vaccination schedules. Ose was at the
clinic to receive the measles, Yellow fever and vitamin A antigens.
“I want her strong and healthy. I know vaccines can keep her
safe from many diseases like tuberculosis, polio and many diseases.
On vaccination days,
I ask for permission from my office to take my daughter to the clinic to
receive her shot.
They have been very supportive and that has made it possible
for her not to miss any vaccine on he schedule. I use this health facility
because they always have all the routine antigens and it is close to my home,”
she says.
The RI programme is to avail caregivers’ opportunity to
present their children to the nearest health facility to receive all scheduled
childhood vaccines starting from birth to 2 years.
Despite the existing immunization programme, the number of
children that have never received any vaccine (zero doses) or are not fully
vaccinated remains high, due to various factors.
Causes for low immunization include fear of side reactions,
lack of knowledge or information on immunization, service delivery issues,
mistrust, and distance to immunization sites, among others.
For instance, Mrs. Seifa Adams almost made her first child
skip the second schedule of antigens (Oral polio Vaccine (OPV), Pneumococcal
conjugate vaccine (PCV), the Pentavalent vaccine (Diphtheria, Pertussis,
Tetanus, Hepatitis B and Hib)) because of wrong advice from a neighbour.
Luckily, Mrs. Seifa did not follow the advice for her
children to miss any of the vaccines because her husband insisted, she follows
the advice given by health workers during antenatal and immunization services.
“In 2020, I almost skipped my son’s immunization schedule
because my neighbour said her children did not receive those vaccines.
My neighbour has three children. She advised that her
co-wives warned her against some vaccines because of the side effects on the
children. Now I know better and my children have not been falling sick like
hers,” she says.
“To prevent misinformation or missed vaccination or zero
dose cases, we usually give health talks to pregnant women and caregivers
during anti-natal and immunization days, explains Fesobi Oluwabunmi, the head
nurse at Kuje General Hospital.
Nurse Fesobi explains that they keep immunization records of
children receiving vaccines in the facility and follow up with the caregivers
when the children miss their schedule.
“We call them and sometimes go find them with the antigen
and vaccinate the children in their homes. The reasons they give for missing
schedules are financial constraints, not having time to leave work or that they
travelled”.
Just like Mrs Adam’s husband, Mr Olajide Adiodun, a
businessman ensures his children do not skip any of the routine vaccines.
In the case of Mr Adiodun, he creates time within his busy
schedule to follow his wife to the clinic for the vaccination of his children.
“I follow them to the clinic on their immunization days. It
is the duty of everyone - not just mothers and health workers - to make sure
all children are fully vaccinated.
I commend the government, WHO and other partners for
providing free vaccines. It relieves a
huge financial burden on parents and allows the less privileged to benefit from
the lifesaving services”, he explains.
With WHO celebrating its 75th anniversary in improving
public health, making progress towards health equity requires understanding
where there are gaps in access or uptake of vaccines, why those gaps exist and
what can be done to address them.
The WHO Country Representative, Dr Walter Kazadi Mulombo
underscores the importance of vaccination, saying WHO will continue to provide
technical support to the government of Nigeria to ensure catch up vaccination
efforts are achieved and no one is left behind from the full benefit of
vaccines.
According to him,
vaccination should continue to
remain top on the national agenda for Nigeria and as part of the broader PHC
revitalization effort to achieve Universal Health coverage.
Additionally, WHO is providing technical support to the
government in its effort to introduce new vaccines and other strategies such as
the optimized outreach strategy and the RI intensification, aimed at
implementing essential immunization recovery plans to restore and strengthen
immunization and primary health care.