Many children still unvaccinated, Reps committee chair laments

FILE: Vaccine

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Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Health Care Services, Amos Magaji, on Monday lamented that many children across several states have never received a single vaccine, describing the situation as a major contributor to Nigeria’s high infant and maternal mortality rates.

Magaji spoke during the Immunisation Financing Champions Summit in Abuja, convened to bring together health committee chairpersons from state Houses of Assembly.

He said the meeting was organised to ensure that efforts being made at the national level are replicated in the states, where primary healthcare oversight is carried out more frequently.

Magaji noted that strengthening primary healthcare remains essential to reducing “zero-dose” cases, as many facilities still lack adequate resources, workforce and funding.

“There are many states in Nigeria right now where some children have never received even a single vaccine. And when they don’t receive these vaccines, that contributes to both maternal and infant mortality.

“That is why we decided to bring together all chairpersons of health committees in the state Houses of Assembly to have this discussion and see how we can strengthen the system,” he said.

According to him, the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund was created to support primary health centres, but its impact depends on states and local governments complementing federal allocations with their own funding and consistent monitoring.

“There is a fund called the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund that has been provided by the Federal Government to strengthen the primary healthcare system. But if the states and local governments do not play their part, it will be difficult for us, even with oversight,” he added.

Magaji stressed the need for improved collaboration between the National Assembly and state legislatures to ensure proper utilisation of funds appropriated for primary healthcare.

He revealed that several states had begun committing to employ additional health workers, with some pledging to hire more than 1,000 primary healthcare personnel annually over the next four years.

“We have states that have committed to employing over 1,000 health workers for primary health centres each year. Progress is being made. Let the primary health centre be the hospital of now and the hospital of the future because it is closest to the people,” he said.

Also speaking, the Chief Executive of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Muyi Aina, endorsed ongoing moves by federal lawmakers to increase basic healthcare financing and improve the timeliness of vaccine funding releases.

He noted that the health sector had long suffered chronic underfunding and said the Federal Government’s Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative aims to broaden access to basic services.

Aina said the National Assembly was working to raise the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund from one per cent to two per cent and to restructure vaccine financing to prevent delayed releases. He added that efforts were also underway to ensure states contribute more resources to primary healthcare.

“The legislature has a major role in increasing resources and improving the timeliness of releases. Both the Senate and the House are working to raise the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund from 1% to 2%. They are also considering ways to restructure vaccine financing so that releases are not delayed,” he said.

Chief Executive Officer of the Vaccine Network for Disease Control, Mrs Chika Offor, commended efforts to increase the basic health provision allocation.

She added that stakeholders were also considering constitutional amendments to further strengthen immunisation and the primary healthcare system.

“All these efforts are aimed at strengthening immunisation and the primary healthcare system as a whole, and that is good. The next step we are looking at is a constitutional amendment, which is ambitious, but it covers everything,” she said.

Nigeria continues to struggle with a high number of “zero-dose” children—those who have never received any routine immunisation.

This gap persists despite national vaccination programmes and international support.

The PUNCH journalist, Solomon, has five years experience covering crime, judiciary and defence beats.

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