The Nigerian government has revealed that it requires $1 billion over the next five years to sustain progress made in immunisation coverage.

Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Muyi Aina, disclosed this on Wednesday during the Multi-Stakeholders Technical Workshop on Optimising a Sustainable Immunisation Financing Model in Abuja.

Dr Aina expressed concern that only 21 per cent of the vaccine budget allocated for 2024 has been released, warning that insufficient funding could jeopardise hard-won gains.

“We need $1 billion over the next five years to secure vaccines for our population,” he said. “But with less than a quarter of this year’s budget released, we are at risk of reversing hard-won gains.”

Despite the funding challenges, Dr Aina highlighted key achievements in 2024, including reaching three million zero-dose children, vaccinating 14 million girls against cervical cancer, administering 91 million vaccine doses, and expanding cold chain capacity to over 10,000 units nationwide.

He emphasised that immunisation is a collective responsibility and not the burden of the federal government alone, calling for increased domestic resource mobilisation and collaboration across all levels of government.

The federal government, through the NPHCDA, leads routine immunisation financing in partnership with state and local governments, while Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, continues to provide significant support.

As Nigeria gradually transitions from donor dependence, Dr Aina noted that the government is exploring innovative financing mechanisms, such as targeted taxes, to sustain immunisation programmes.

Stakeholders at the workshop called for stronger accountability frameworks and multi-sectoral collaboration to build a resilient and sustainable immunisation financing model.