The Assessment of Effectiveness of Immunization in the Control of Infectious Childhood Diseases in Nigeria

Abstract

Childhood immunization remains an important strategy in the reduction of morbidity and mortality from common vaccine preventable diseases. Nigeria’s immunization coverage rates are among the lowest in the world. This low coverage rate can be attributed to challenges encountered by the programme. A quick turn around came in December 2005 when the World Health Organisation – Nigeria Expanded programme on immunization team supported a Government of Nigeria consultative process to strengthen routine immunization using a 4 – point strategy. This strong partnership resulted in the increase of routine immunization coverage of Diptheria-Pertussis-Tetanus 3 from 37.5% in December 2005 to 72% by end of December 2006. There was a decline in the transmission of wild polio virus type 1. Only 22% of the 1129 polio cases confirmed in 2006 occurred during the second half of 2006; the number of children never vaccinated with OPV also declined from 50% to 20%. Enhanced surveillance for measles has demonstrated the dramatic reduction in measles morbidity and mortality rate from 144,068 cases in 2005 with a case fatality rate of >4% to 16,629 cases in 2006 with a case fatality
rate of 1.8%. Also, 26 million (83%) children under age five were also vaccinated for measles during the integrated measles campaign in 17 southern states in October 2006. The challenges encountered by the Nigerian’s immunization programme include inadequate vaccination supplies, collapse of primary healthcare services, poor acceptance of
immunization particularly in northern Nigeria, civil unrest, wars, natural disasters and others.