Nigeria’s immunisation levels stall for 4yrs

Nigeria’s immunisation levels have failed to grow for the past four years, compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019, excluding many children from essential protection, according to data published by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF.

Trends in vaccine coverage since 2020 show that none of the 15 vaccines in the national immunisation schedule, achieved 90 percent coverage, ranging between 12 percent and 74 percent.

Despite the addition of RotaC, a new vaccine introduced in 2022 and achieving 49 percent coverage in 2023, vaccine coverage in 2023 still ranged between 38 percent and 74 percent.

“The latest trends demonstrate that many countries continue to miss too many children,” said UNICEF executive director Catherine Russell.

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“Closing the immunisation gap requires a global effort, with governments, partners, and local leaders investing in primary healthcare and community workers to ensure every child gets vaccinated, and that overall healthcare is strengthened”, Russell added.

DTP3

According to the findings, the number of children who received three doses of the vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP3) in 2023 – a key marker for global immunisation coverage – stalled at 62 percent.

This level was 22 percentage points lower than the global average of 84 percent and seven percentage points lower than the average across all WCAR countries at 69 percent.

Nigeria’s national DTP3 coverage dropped four percentage points compared to 2019, falling to 66 percent. This translates to a 3 percent decrease in the number of children vaccinated with DTP3.

In 2023, Nigeria ranked number four out of 24 countries for lowest DTP3 coverage and was in the top 10 countries with the most under-vaccinated children.

Although the number of surviving infants increased approximately four percent in 2023, with 300,000 more surviving infants, 100,000 fewer children were vaccinated in 2023 than in 2019. For vaccine coverage to increase, the WHO and UNICEF suggest that the number of vaccinated children must grow faster than the population increases.

According to Muhammad Pate, Nigeria’s minister of Health and Social Welfare, efforts were ongoing in line with the Nigerian Health Sector Renewal Investment Programme to reform the country’s healthcare system.

He said the focus was on enhancing routine immunisation and reducing the number of zero-dose children through collaboration with state governments, including traditional leaders, as a key step towards improving overall population health outcomes.

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“We will work as one team to strengthen governance, boost transparency and accountability, and address fiscal decentralisation as warranted by Nigeria’s federal system. Most importantly, we will deliberately enlist the active involvement of our citizens in decision-making and implementation processes to ensure that the healthcare system is reflective of and responsive to the needs of the population,” he said on Tuesday in a statement on Nigeria’s partnership with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance team

HPV

In 2023, the first dose (HPV1) programme coverage among girls was 27 percent and the last dose (HPVc) programme coverage was 27 percent.

Dropout rates

In 2023, 11 percent of children who received DTP1 did not receive DTP3, and 14 percent of children who received DTP1 did not receive MCV1.

The high DTP dropout rates imply poor ability to provide a complete series of vaccines early in life, according to the report. The high DTP-MCV drop-out rates imply poor retention in immunisation programmes and the ability to provide a full course of vaccines in infancy (up to one year).