No less than 9.5 million infants have been vaccinated between January 2021 till date in Nigeria.
The figure was revealed in a communique issued at the end of the 5th bi-annual joint stakeholders meeting on Conditional Cash Transfer for Routine Immunisation, held in the northeast and northwest regions of the country.
The communique signed by the government of Gombe, Jigawa, Bauchi, Adamawa, Taraba, Katsina, Kaduna, Kano, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara states, noted that the vaccinations were provided at no cost to caregiver through government-supported clinics.
It stated that the programme was supported by New Incentives – All Babies Are Equal (NI-ABAE) initiative.
According to the communique, issued to journalists in Akure, the Ondo State capital, “the cash incentives help compensate for transportation costs, lost income, and waiting times while creating behavioral change through awareness creation on the benefits of immunizations.
“Since beginning to scale the programme in January of 2021, the All Babies program has enrolled over 1 million infants, encouraged over 9.5 million vaccinations, and disbursed 2.3 billion Naira to caregivers thanks to the collaboration of staff at over 4,000 government clinics in 124 LGAs.
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“In 109 of these LGAs, the All Babies programme operates in nearly all government clinics. An independent randomized control trial of the All Babies programme (2017-2020) found that the programme increases the likelihood that children would be fully immunized by 27 percent and increases rates of individual vaccinations by 14 to 21 percent.
“Additionally, the research found that the programme contributed to improved timeliness of vaccines as well as improved knowledge of and attitudes toward vaccines among caregivers.
“In 2023, NI-ABAE plans to work with state partners to expand the All Babies programme to a total of 11 states throughout northern Nigeria and enroll 1.5 million infants throughout the year.
“NGF to facilitate an introduction to Governors and subsequent meetings among them to share success stories and challenges of immunization coverage in their states.
“NI-ABAE to continue identifying and intervening on staff demonstrating poor customer engagement through re-training and termination if necessary, as well as the recruitment of a Customer Service Manager to enhance the level of positive engagement organization-wide. States to identify and report concerns or challenges with NI-ABAE field staff so that corrective action can be taken by the organisation where warranted.”
