Doctors petition NASS over poor immunisation coverage

The Nigerian Medical Association has written the National Assembly demanding both houses to deliberate action to tack declining coverage for immunisation in the country. In a letter of concern NMA on Thursday handed over as a petition to heads of health committee in both the House of Representatives and Senate, it said Nigeria was far […]

The Nigerian Medical Association has written the National Assembly demanding both houses to deliberate action to tack declining coverage for immunisation in the country.

In a letter of concern NMA on Thursday handed over as a petition to heads of health committee in both the House of Representatives and Senate, it said Nigeria was far from reaching a target 90% coverage—when nearly nine in 10 children are fully immunized.

The petition also calls for increased budget allocation to fund immunisation, including possible production of vaccines,

It came after a government survey into immunisation coverage found seven in every 10 children aged under two years did not receive all vaccines required by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency and another 40% of children did not receive any vaccine at all. The coverage is benchmarked against getting at least three doses of pentavalent vaccine.

Children of the poorest families accounted for only in 10 children who got full immunisation.

In the letter signed by Dr Chiedozie Achonwa, the chairman of the association’s FCT branch, it called Nigeria’s 33% coverage for immunisation “appalling” and “unacceptable” and urged relevant authorities concerned with immunisation to declare emergency in routine childhood immunisation.

Muhammad Usman, deputy chair of the House of Representatives committee on health care,

The 33% coverage is a far drop from an average 81% coverage in the 1990, said Senator Mao Ohuabunwa, chair of the Senate committee on primary health care and communicable diseases, who has said he will present the petition before the Senate.

“There’s no way we can secure the future of our health care, if we can’t secure our children,” he said in comments delivered on his behalf by Leo Ogba.

He said a primary charge of all stakeholders in health should be to strengthen immunisation, introduce new vaccines and eliminate vitamin A deficiency using clear-cut and well-funded interventions.

“The National Health Act defines how some of these things can be funded, but we have not developed the political will,” he said.