Most Children Affected by Diphtheria Outbreaks in Nigeria Are Not Fully Vaccinated

The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) has revealed that about 93 percent of children affected by recent diphtheria outbreaks in Nigeria did not get all the required vaccine doses.

The agency’s Executive Director, Muyi Aina, shared this information on Thursday during a media briefing in Abuja.

Mr Aina explained that an analysis of the cases showed that most of the children who got sick were either unvaccinated or had received less than the three recommended doses.

“We looked at data from all the cases that we have had, and in the different outbreaks that are happening, over 90 percent, I think 93 percent of the children had not received the full complement of vaccines that they should receive,” he said.

He noted that some affected children either did not get any vaccines or only received one of the three recommended doses.

Mr Aina said that one reason for this situation is misinformation and false rumors that discourage people from getting vaccinated in some communities.

“The vaccines are available. We have advocated, and we have interventions to get communities to access these vaccines,” he said.

“But when people allow misinformation and false rumors to influence their behavior, they don’t access the vaccines.”

Mr Aina emphasized that reducing vaccine-preventable diseases is still a major goal of the agency’s immunization program.

He mentioned that more than 18.3 million girls have received the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, with ongoing efforts to reach more eligible girls.

“For the human papillomavirus vaccine, over 18.3 million of our girls have now been vaccinated,” he said.

He also pointed out that the measles-rubella vaccine has been given to more than 102 million children aged nine months to 14 years.

According to him, 882,000 children in Kebbi, Bayelsa, Ondo, and Bauchi states have received at least the first dose of the malaria vaccine.

Mr Aina said that the agency is seeing steady improvement in routine immunization coverage and is working to reduce the number of children who have not received any vaccines through targeted efforts.

“We are reducing our number of zero-dose children through several interventions, including the identification, enumeration, and vaccination of children, and through targeted interventions to reach underserved communities,” he said.

He urged caregivers, community leaders, and teachers to help with vaccination efforts to protect children from preventable diseases.

“I think this should be a wake-up call for all of us who are caregivers, for those of us that are community leaders and teachers, that we need to again focus on making sure that we get all of the vaccines that we need,” Mr Aina said.

He added that plans are in place to expand the Basic Health Care Provision Fund to more facilities, increasing coverage from 8,300 to 15,000.