2.2 Million Nigerian Children Miss Vaccination Yearly — UNICEF
Close up of a mother taking her daughter to the pediatrician to get vaccinated
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said about 2.2 million Nigerian children miss out on vaccines every year.
According to UNICEF, reports show that Nigeria as a country is positioned with the second highest number of zero-dose children in the world.
Chief of Health, UNICEF Nigeria, Eduardo Celades, at a media briefing on the release of the State of the World’s Children global report on Thursday disclosed most children do not get vaccinated in the first two months of delivery.
“In the first eight weeks of delivery, 2.2 million children every year are not vaccinated at all in Nigeria.”
He revealed vaccines are a very powerful tool in preventing childhood diseases as well reducing child mortality, saving the lives of more than 4.4 million children every year.
He said UNICEF is in collaboration with the federal government and other actors, and are working towards addressing the zero-dose children in Nigeria.
He added that children with zero dose had been identified and going by 100 priority local government areas they aimed to catch up with one million missed children in the next 700 days.
Rajat Madhok, UNICEF Nigeria, Chief of Communications, said the global report revealed that 67 million children missed out on getting vaccinated, with vaccination coverage levels decreasing in 112 countries.
He said 12.7 million children in Africa missed out on getting vaccinations in the last three years.
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