Bukola Afeni
The Chairman Senate Committee and Communicable Diseases, Senator Dr. Ibrahim Lamido has urged government to release counterpart funding for immunization programs.
Lamido stated this in his speech delivered at the multi stakeholders technical workshop for the optimization, immunization financing in Nigeria.
The Senator said its time for government to turn commitment into action by ensuring vaccine availability, strengthening health systems, sustaining Gavi support, and protecting vulnerable populations.
According to Lamido, immunization is a cornerstone for public health, saving millions of lives annually.
However, he noted that Nigeria still grapples with vaccine -preventable diseases due to inadequate funding
“Releasing counterpart funding demonstrate Nigeria’s dedication to it’s people’s health and well-being, its time to turn commitment into action.
“Let us work together to bridge funding gaps, enhance immunization coverage, strengthen accountability, and ensure sustainable financing”, he said.
In the same vein, he added that Nigeria is said to be one of the countries with the highest number of unvaccinated children, and this is putting us at high risk of having children whose growth are affected physically or mentally.
“Immunization is antidote against infant notable crisis.Though tremendous progress is recorded in other areas of health sector, little attention is paid to immunization financially.
“If we don’t want to bring children up with deformities, we have to show more commitment to the issue. Vaccines should be produced locally but this is no longer the case as visit to bio vaccine company in Lagos shows an abandoned and grounded facilities for years.
“Nigeria’s future depends on a healthy population. Let us act and secure it now “
The Deputy Chairman of Senate Committee on Primary Health Care and Disease Control, Senator Tony Nwoye, said there is a need to seek for foster multi-sectoral coliaboration and transparency through open dialogue between parliamentarians and stakeholders involved in immunization financing in Nigeria.
He added that immunization funding gaps is a major threat to Nigeria’s health security.
“The immunization funding gap is a ticking time bomb that must be addressed urgently. We cannot continue to rely on international donors to fund our immunization programs.
” We must take ownership and ensure sustainable financing to protect the citizens from vaccine-preventable diseases.”
The CEO of Vaccine Network for Disease Control, Chika Offor, said the organization is focusing critically on the issue of immunization.
She also reteirated the need for funding to purchase vaccines.
In addition , she highlighted that the health body is making positive strives in terms of HPV vaccine.
“We want to consider anything that disrupts development as a disease, and anything that supports development as a vaccine. Vaccines cannot be bought with sand”, she said.
