The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) says 93 per cent of children affected by recent diphtheria outbreaks had not received the complete doses of recommended vaccines.

‎Muyi Aina, NPHCDA’s executive director and chief executive officer, disclosed this during the agency’s quarterly media briefing on Thursday in Abuja.

Mr ‎Aina said the development highlighted the need for renewed efforts by parents, caregivers, community leaders and other stakeholders to ensure children receive life-saving vaccines.

‎“We looked at data from all the cases that we have had, and in the different outbreaks that are happening, over 90 per cent, I think 93 per cent of the children had not received the full complement of vaccines that they should receive,” he said.

‎He said some affected children had either not received any vaccine or received only one of the three recommended doses.

‎“Either they didn’t receive any at all, or they got one or so out of the three doses that they should get,” Mr Aina said.

‎The NPHCDA chief executive attributed the situation partly to misinformation and false rumours affecting vaccine uptake in some communities.

‎“The vaccines are available. We have advocated, and we have interventions to get communities to access these vaccines.

‎“But when people allow misinformation and false rumours to influence their behaviour, they don’t access the vaccines,” he added.

Mr Aina said reducing vaccine-preventable diseases remained a critical priority of the agency’s immunisation programme.

‎He disclosed that more than 18.3 million girls had received the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, with efforts ongoing to expand coverage among eligible girls.

‎“For the human papillomavirus vaccine, over 18.3 million of our girls have now been vaccinated,” he said.

‎He added that the measles-rubella vaccine had reached more than 102 million children aged nine months to 14 years.

According to him, 882,000 children in Kebbi, Bayelsa, Ondo and Bauchi states had received at least the first dose of the malaria vaccine.

Mr ‎Aina said the agency was also recording gradual improvement in routine immunisation coverage and reducing the number of zero-dose children through targeted interventions.

‎“We are reducing our number of zero-dose children through several interventions, including the identification, enumeration and vaccination of children, and through targeted interventions to reach underserved communities,” he said.

‎He urged caregivers, community leaders and teachers to support vaccination efforts to protect children against preventable diseases.

‎“I think this should be a wake-up call for all of us who are caregivers, for those of us that are community leaders and teachers, that we need to again focus on making sure that we get all of the vaccines that we need,” Mr Aina said.

‎He added that efforts are underway to expand the Basic Health Care Provision Fund to more facilities, increasing coverage from 8,300 to 15,000.

(NAN)