The Country Director, John Snow Incorporated Research and Training Institute, (JSI) Nigeria, Dr Olawale Durosinmi-Etti, has said data shows that Nigeria has one of the highest numbers of zero-dose children in the world.
These are children who don’t receive a single dose of diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis-containing vaccine.
Dr Durosinmi-Etti disclosed this during a press briefing in Abuja on Thursday.
He said: “Nigeria has one of the largest numbers of zero-dose children in the world.
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“And when we say zero-dose, this means children who don’t receive a single dose of diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis-containing vaccine.
“And this is something that is key to the government of Nigeria. So, we are working with the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (FMOH& SW), the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) and state governments, to ensure that we take services to all eligible children that are not immunized against vaccine preventable diseases through their life course”.
Durosinmi-Etti said JSI has been in Nigeria for close to forty years during which it implemented several projects, supporting the government of Nigeria, both at the national and sub-national level.
“We have been able to support HIV programming through our technical assistance for supply chain system strengthening in Nigeria; Technical assistance on Routine Immunization and strengthening of Primary Health Care services; Technical assistance on access to family planning and reproductive health services including self-injectables such Depo medroxyprogesterone Acetate Sub Cuteneous(DMPA-SC).
“Also, we have given technical assistance on institutionalization of self-care intervention and, technical assistance in collaboration with other implementing partners on Introduction and routinization of the HPV vaccine through which we have vaccinated over 12 million young girls, aged 9 to 14 , to protect them against the Human Papillomavirus across the states in Nigeria.
“Aside this, we also have other projects that we currently implement that are supporting the sustainability drive of not just the donors, but also of governments,” Durosinmi-Etti said.
Speaking further, the President & CEO of JSI, Margaret Crotty, said JSI interventions bring technical skills and capabilities to support Government initiatives and approaches for improvement in overall wellbeing of Nigerians.
Crotty said: “We have interventions that are around health security, which is something that is very key to the current administration.
“So, we will be supporting the government of Nigeria to strengthen health security. I’m sure you are aware of that MPox is now declared as a public health challenge.
“JSI, under the USAID- MOMENTUM Routine Immunization Transformation and Equity (MRITE) project, is currently working with stakeholders to receive the first batch of Mpox vaccine that will be coming into the country in the next few weeks.
“And as part of our collaboration, we’ll be supporting the NPHCDA with capacity building for key stakeholders to ensure that these vaccines are introduced into Nigeria and administered accordingly. And then hopefully, we can curtail the spread of the disease in Nigeria”, she said.
Crotty who led the delegation of JSI to the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Muhammad Ali Pate, said JSI vision and strategy for work in Nigeria aligns perfectly with the ministers’ sector-wide approach.
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