FG restates commitment to full immunisation of Nigerian children

The federal government has reiterated her commitment towards ensuring Nigerian children are fully immunized.

The Executive Director, National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Faisal Shuaib stated this while declaring open, a special retreat on strategy for immunisation priorities and public health care (PHC) system strengthening (2019—2020) on Monfay in Abuja.

“What we are doing at this retreat is to really understand how we are going to take the next 10 years forward in entrenching full immunization of our children.

“domestic input is to the tune of 2billion dollars and GAVI has supported to the tune of 1billion dollars along the line of GAVI expanded transition from 2018 to 2028,”

Shuaib noted that there has been an ambitious plan to sustain immunization in Nigeria, over the last ten years, due to fluctuated coverage and that the Buhari administration would leave no stone unturned in turning around the fortune of the primary health services.

“We need to be radical to achieve total primary healthcare delivery because the standard has fallen and needs to be raised. We have worked and we are beginning to see minimal results, we are trying to establish Primary healthcare where Nigerians will go and be treated with dignity and respect.

“What we are saying is, it is really not about funding, but health and us being the critical part of primary health care in Nigeria, but how do we convert the funding to actual activities and ensure that all Nigerians access primary health care in the spirit of dignity and respect. How are these funds expended in the primary health care services to ensure that every child, every woman can go to a pry health centres near their house and be attended to very well and get the best quality of service.

” Today we will be talking about how to hold everybody responsible starting from the ministry of health, myself the executive director all the way to the primary health care provider accountable to deliver primary health care that matches our aspirations as Nigerians,”

He avers that Nigerians deserve the best primary healthcare delivery in a way that everybody that pays taxes and lives in Nigeria would say yes, this is finally the government that have lived through the promises of providing primary healthcare for its citizens.

“We in the president buhari administration will not rest our Hoar’s until we deliver, primary healthcare to every Nigerian,” he said

Also speaking on immunization coverage increase, the Chairman governing board, NPHCDA, Attahiru Aleru, on his path said, the board will give all the necessary support the agency needs to enable it do better and also to ensure Proper Accountability that will enable donors do more.

He further said the board appreciates the the support of the state governors and urged them to invest more to get the health sector to an expected level of improving primary healthcare delivery for Nigerians and double the current 36 percent coverage by next year.

Speaking on behalf of health support partners, the Managing Director GAVI, Hind Khatib, disclosed that the decision of the GAVI board to extend its support towards routine immunisation in Nigeria was not an easy one as other countries have losed out, anf appealed to government not to make GAVI board regret its during its annual review.

“You are bound to a duty to make sure these investments are utilised effevtively. We want to make sure you are working with us at the same speed and efficiency so that our partnership can continue,” she said.

Oyin Aminu, Abuja