Abuja, 24 April 2015 – With the theme ‘Vaccination, a gift for life’ the importance of vaccines as one of the greatest human advance in history was emphasized by the WHO Country Representative, Dr Rui Gama Vaz at a press conference held yesterday in Abuja to herald the African Vaccination Week (AVW) in Nigeria which had the presence of the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care (NPHCDA) and partners.

Vaccine, Dr Vaz emphasized, is one of the most cost-effective interventions in the history of public health. He further said that with vaccinations, 2 to 3 million deaths can be averted every year globally.

While congratulating the Federal Ministry of Health, and the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), WHO Country Representative who spoke on behalf of partners announced that ‘tomorrow 24 of April, we are going to reach nine months without any report of wild polio virus. This is an important milestone for this country and for the African region but we cannot relax. It is too early to celebrate the interruption of wild polio virus transmission.’ He then went on to warn against complacency at this critical time when the country was making giant strides in the fight against polio. He called on the Nigerian Government to see this period of AVW celebration as a critical time to take ‘very strong ownership and leadership’ by ensuring the integration of all EPI activities and other public health interventions that include Vitamin A, deworming tablets, Iron and Folic Acid supplementation to prevent/treat anaemia, Oral Rehydration Salts and Zinc for the prevention and treatment of diarrhoea, growth monitoring of children for nutritional status.

Dr Vaz commended the government of Nigeria for the efforts being put in place to strengthen the EPI programme in the country most particularly the efforts to stop polio transmission. He praised health workers especially those working in security compromised areas for the outstanding work that they are doing to save lives of children and prevent disabilities related to vaccine preventable diseases.

Earlier in a keynote address at the well-attended media event, the Executive Director of NPHCDA, Dr. Ado Muhammed stated that Nigeria has been commemorating the AVW since 2011 and this year’s strategy is to boost the population immunity of Internally Displaced Populations (IDPs) through outreach services using health camps where integrated health services have been provided. This is mainly due to high population movements especially people from the North East fleeing the security situation in the region.

While responding to questions and answers from journalists  present at the event,  Dr Ado revealed that Nigeria is making plans to develop indigenous vaccines and “very soon the committee constituted to lead research in the production of indigenous vaccines will be operational. This will help to bring down the cost of vaccinating a child in Nigeria” Dr Ado concluded.

Present at the event were heads of development partners such as Bill and Melinda gates Foundation (BMGF), UNICEF, Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), Save the Children, USAID, the Centres for Disease Control (CDC),  National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), FCT Primary Health Care Board, Nigeria Medical Association, Association of General Practitioners of Nigeria, Community Health Research CHR, National Association of Pediatrics Nurses, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, GSK, Sir Emeka Offor Foundation and Health Reform Foundation of Nigeria. Journalists from the broadcast and print media attended the event.

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For more information, please contact:

HAMMANYERO Kulchumi Isa
Email: hammanyerok [at] who.int