Childhood immunization: 2.2m children in Nigeria unvaccinated – UNICEF

Amid a recent surge in confirmed cases of measles, cholera and poliovirus outbreaks in parts of the country, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has disclosed that Nigeria ranks among the highest in the number of unvaccinated and under-vaccinated children in the world, as it put the figure at 2.2 million.

This is also as the organisation said Africa accounts for the highest number with 13 million children who missed one or more vaccinations between 2019 and 2021 because of the disruptive impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which, it noted has left the continent vulnerable to even more outbreaks of disease and facing a ‘child survival crisis.’

A fresh report released by UNICEF, Thursday, said Africa is the region with the highest number of unvaccinated and under-vaccinated children in the world, adding that this is amid a ‘global backslide’ in childhood immunisation over those three years, which the organisation said is ‘the worst regression for childhood vaccinations in 30 years.’

UNICEF said that 12.7 million African children missed one or more vaccinations and 8.7 million did not receive a single dose of any vaccine from 2019-2021.

The report titled; ‘The State of the World’s Children 2023,’ confirms previous indications and lays out more data showing that the pandemic “interrupted childhood vaccination almost everywhere,” UNICEF said.

“Half of the 20 countries in the world with the largest number of children without any vaccinations — referred to as “zero-dose” children — are in Africa, UNICEF said. In Nigeria, 2.2 million children have never received a vaccination. In Ethiopia, 1.1 million are unvaccinated against diseases.”

UNICEF’s report comes as Africa, but also other parts of the world, report disease outbreaks.

In the southern African nation of Malawi, more than 1,000 people died in a cholera outbreak at the start of the year, the worst there in 20 years. Nearly 700 children died in a measles outbreak in Zimbabwe last year. Most of the Zimbabwean children were unvaccinated against the disease, authorities said.

UNICEF said the “intense demands on health systems, the diversions of immunization resources to COVID-19 vaccination, health worker shortages and stay-at-home measures” all contributed to missed vaccinations across the world. So did conflicts, climate change and vaccine hesitancy.

But in Africa, the pandemic exposed and exacerbated the “lack of resilience and persistent weaknesses in health systems and primary health care,” UNICEF said.

Last year, 34 of the 54 countries in Africa experienced disease outbreaks such as measles, cholera and poliovirus, UNICEF said, adding there’s a “child survival crisis” on the continent.

The resurgence of those diseases should serve as a clear warning for Africa, said Mohamed M. Fall, UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa.

“African leaders must act now and take strong political action to reduce the gap in vaccination and make sure that all children are immunized and protected,” he said.

UNICEF noted that children born just before or during the pandemic were now moving past the age when they would normally be vaccinated and stressed the need for health authorities to “catch up” with those missed vaccinations to prevent more deadly disease outbreaks.

Oracle Today recalls that the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), penultimate Monday, said it recorded another 447 suspected cholera cases in six states of the country.

NCDC which disclosed this on its official website, noting that the cases were reported in weeks 5 to 9 of 2023.

The figures released showed that Cross River has 397, Zamfara 25, Ebonyi 11, Abia 9, Bayelsa 3 and Kano 2 cases.

However, the agency said that 12 states have reported suspected cholera cases since the beginning of 2023, noting that they include Abia, Bayelsa, Benue, Cross River, Ebonyi, Kano, Katsina, Niger, Ondo, Osun, Sokoto and Zamfara.

The NCDC also added that as of March 5, a total of 922 suspected cases, including 32 deaths (CFR 3.5%), were reported from the 12 States in 2023, including Cross River (16), Ebonyi six, Abia six, Niger two, Zamfara one and Bayelsa one.

The agency’s epidemiological report showed that of all the cases recorded since the beginning of 2023, Cross River state accounted for 70 per cent of the cumulative cases across the country, with 647 cases.

The agency further revealed that Cross River’s 16 deaths, accounted for 50 per cent of all cholera deaths in the country.