eHealth Africa Vaccinates 23m Nigerian Children In 6 Months

More than 23 million children were reached and vaccinated against polio and other vaccine-preventable diseases across Nigeria between January and June 2026, through vaccination campaigns supported by eHealth Africa.

The organisation reached children in more than 205,000 settlements while expanding digital technology, geospatial tracking systems, renewable energy, and public health coordination platforms to strengthen healthcare delivery in Nigeria and other African countries.

The disclosure was contained in eHealth Africa’s 2026 Mid-Year Report, titled “Expanding Reach, Readiness and Resilience: Data-Driven Health Systems Across Africa,” released yesterday.

The report highlighted the organisation’s interventions between January and June 2026, focusing on access to essential health services, public health emergency preparedness and stronger health systems.

The communications manager, eHealth Africa, Favour Oriaku, issued the statement containing the report’s findings.

Commenting on the figures, the Executive Director of eHealth Africa, Atef Fawaz, said the results demonstrated the importance of collaboration in improving healthcare delivery.

“The significance of these results goes beyond the numbers,” Fawaz said.

“They reflect what becomes possible when governments, communities, technology, infrastructure, and local expertise work together to strengthen the systems behind healthcare delivery.”

Fawaz said the organisation was focused on developing systems that health institutions could own, sustain and improve.

In the immunisation sector, eHealth Africa expanded its PlanFeld digital tool across 253 Local Government Areas in 10 northern states.

The tool supported 33,837 vaccination teams with digitised microplans and catchment-area maps.

The technology was also deployed in four LGAs in Lagos State during the Measles-Rubella campaign.

A total of 1,980 digitised maps were produced and distributed to vaccination teams during the campaign.

In Sokoto State, the organisation also strengthened the last-mile vaccine supply chain through its Vaccine Direct Delivery intervention.

The number of health facilities served increased from 351 to 407, while approximately 3.41 million vaccine antigens were delivered to support immunisation services in underserved communities.

The report also highlighted gains from eHealth Africa’s renewable energy investment in primary healthcare facilities.

Through the Renewable Energy for Primary Health Care intervention, supported by UNICEF, the organisation solarised 238 primary healthcare centres across 12 states.

During the first half of 2026, 226 remotely monitored facilities generated 277,800kWh of solar electricity.

The initiative was estimated to have saved about N166m in fuel costs and prevented 240 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

Since its inception, the intervention has recorded estimated fuel savings of more than N414m.

Beyond Nigeria, eHealth Africa supported 17 laboratories in 13 countries and expanded its Inventory Management System to 18 laboratories.

Five laboratories in Ghana, Zambia, Nigeria and Cameroon were upgraded and handed over during the period.

The organisation also continued supporting public health emergency preparedness through 11 Emergency Operations Centres in Nigeria.

The centres served as coordination platforms for government agencies, surveillance teams, immunisation officials and development partners.

During the period under review, the centres hosted 546 emergency coordination meetings and supported 102 campaign-related meetings.

They also produced 74 public health scorecards to aid planning and performance monitoring.

Meanwhile, the organisation expanded community surveillance of antibiotic availability and suspected substandard and falsified medicines through Com-WATCH.

Across Kano, Gombe, Ekiti, Ebonyi, Akwa Ibom and the Federal Capital Territory, 2,512 surveillance actors were enrolled.

A further 2,763 medicine vendors and other actors were trained, while more than 20,500 community members received sensitisation messages.

By mid-year, 977 medicine outlets were reporting stock information through the platform.

In humanitarian operations, eHealth Africa managed the World Food Programme Common Storage facility in Ngala, Borno State, supporting 16 humanitarian partners.

The warehouse handled 691 metric tonnes and 2,527 cubic metres of commodities during the period.

Six-monthly physical inventories were completed, with no stock losses reported.

The organisation said the interventions reflected a shift from implementing standalone projects towards strengthening the systems governments and health institutions depend on to plan, coordinate and sustain essential health services.

It said its approach remained centred on three priorities — reach, readiness and resilience.

For the second half of 2026, eHealth Africa said it would focus on consolidating gains by strengthening institutional ownership and the sustained use of deployed systems.

It also plans to complete ongoing investments and generate stronger evidence on how improved health-system performance translates into more reliable services and better outcomes for communities.