GAVI visit to Lagos State on Zero-Dose Children

The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) is planning a mission to Nigeria to discuss some of the limitations posed by COVID-19 to RI programming in the country. Of particular importance to them is the engagement with the country on Zero-Dose children – defined by GAVI as children who don’t receive a single dose of diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis-containing vaccine.

These children are found in areas with low access and low utilization of RI services, e.g. urban slums, hard-to-reach areas, etc, and given the high number of peri-urban areas and slums in the state, Lagos has been selected for a visit by the GAVI team.

The GAVI team will be in Lagos on Friday, July 30th, and Saturday, July 31st. On Friday, July 30th, the GAVI team plans to have a meeting with the State’s Honourable Commissioner of Health; Prof. Akin Abayomi and the Permanent Secretary, LSPCHB; Dr Ibrahim Akinwunmi Mustafa. The engagement will be aimed at getting the state’s perspective on areas with high zero-dose children, the work that has been done so far to reduce the number of zero-dose children (e.g. strategy development, OBRs, RIIPs, etc), as well as areas where there are still gaps that need to be closed.

On Saturday, July 31st, the Gavi team plans to visit an urban slum with high zero-dose children in the state (which is also a hotbed of disease outbreaks), and Makoko Ward in Lagos Mainland LGA has been selected for the visit (with a possible stop-by at the LGA Secretariat and Iwaya PHC due to its proximity to the Ward).

Therefore, the state needs to be prepared with data and presentation materials to make for a fruitful engagement of the GAVI team as the hope is that, seeing the work being done so far, GAVI can also provide support to the state on addressing the issue. CHAI is available to continue supporting the state in preparation for this meeting to ensure its success.