Lists Lagos, Oyo, Ondo as highest
The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) has said 189,310 children in the South-West geopolitical zone lacked access to routine immunisation from January to June 2023.
The agency’s Executive Director, Faisal Shuaib, disclosed this during Tuesday’s quarterly review meeting of the South-West Traditional Leaders Committee on Primary Health Care Delivery (SWTLC), held in Akure, Ondo State capital.
Shuaib, who described the children as “zero dose children,” said: “Lagos has the highest count with 79,279 zero dose children, followed by Oyo State with 53,812, Ondo State with 30,280, Osun with 19,737, Ogun with 3,204 and Ekiti with 2,998.”
The NPHCDA boss said the children never received any form of vaccination.
He, therefore, urged the traditional rulers to emphasise to their subjects the significance of regular immunisation and other primary healthcare services, adding that immunisation to eradicate all forms of vaccine-preventable diseases remained the agency’s top priority.
He said the Federal Government, in collaboration with development partners, would be introducing the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in September to address cervical and other types of cancer.
The NPHCDA boss noted that the meeting presented another opportunity to deliberate and devise strategies to tackle challenges facing PHC system in the zone.
