Lagos Vaccinates 400,000 Under-5 Children Against Killer Diseases

Not less than 459,264 under-five children in Lagos State have been fully vaccinated against life threatening diseases like diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, hepatitis B and haemophilus influenza type B, from January to December 2022.

The Lagos State Immunization Officer, Primary Health Care Board (PHCB), Elizabeth Taiwo, disclosed this at a media advocacy meeting on COVAX and Routine Immunization (RI) uptake, organised by the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Lagos state, in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Friday, in Lagos.

Taiwo revealed that Lagos targeted 596,802 under-five children in the 20 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the state, but successfully vaccinated 459,264 with Penta 3 vaccine which protect children against diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, hepatitis B and haemophilus influenza type B, representing 77 per cent immunisation coverage. The number of under-five children who were not immunized with Penta 3 vaccine in the period under review amounted to 137,538, she added.

Speaking on the challenges that hindered RI outcomes in the state, the immunization officer disclosed that data quality and data disparity; distance of Primary Health Care Centres (PHCs) from community members; low involvement of private facilities; reduced attention to RI activities due to conflicting programmes and gross data error, among others, were the challenges encountered by the Agency.

Taiwo advocated that the District Health Information Systems (DHIS2) reporting platform is still using data from the last census conducted in Nigeria, while advocating that National and state should ensure data harmonization are planned and conducted as soon as possible.

She however averred that the Lagos state PHCB is not resting on its oars as the Agency has intensified efforts to reach far communities through outreaches and active mobilization activities.

Lagos field officer, UNICEF, Dr Ijeoma Agbo, disclosed that Lagos state had the highest coverage of children fully immunized at one year of age, which is higher than South West coverage of 48 per cent, according to the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) 2021.

Agbo, however, lamented that only 66 per cent of children aged one, were fully immunized, while calling on the Lagos state government to ensure that no child is left behind, because immunization protects children against killer diseases.

Speaking on what UNICEF is doing in improving the health of children, the field officer said, “By adopting a comprehensive and multi-sectoral approach, UNICEF helps government and partners to address all the aspects that hinder mothers and babies from receiving adequate care and nutrition during the critical 1000 day of life.”