AFRICA ( Commonwealth Union) _ United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has reiterated that around 2.2 million children in Nigeria are currently in the zero vaccination dosage category and are therefore vulnerable to a number of diseases that can be prevented through immunization.
Children that have been identified as having zero dose immunization have not had any vaccinations as part of the regular national immunization schedule and have also not received the DTP pentavalent vaccine, which protects against diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, haemophilus influenzae, and hepatitis.
However, of the total number of children nationwide, 600,000 live in the North West region’s Kano, Katsina, and Jigawa states. Kano reported 61 deaths from diphtheria in March 2023, mostly as a result of low immunization rates, particularly in rural areas. Similar to Jigawa, meningitis and measles claimed hundreds of lives there last year.
