UNICEF, WHO say Nigeria needs additional resources to fight measles, polio

The United Nations Children's Fund, or Unicef, and the World Health Organization, or WHO, have called on the Nigerian government to increase funding for immunization in order to avert major measles and polio epidemics. According to the two bodies, the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly disrupted immunizations against the deadly diseases.

In a statement released on Nov 11, Henrietta Fore, UNICEF executive director, said Nigeria cannot allow the fight against one deadly disease to lead to the loss of ground in the fight against other diseases.

"Nigeria remains at risk of both polio and measles outbreaks due to the inadequate improvements in increasing the routine immunization coverage in children. In as much as Nigeria was declared free of the wild poliovirus in August, measles continues to be among the leading causes of death and disability among children," Fore said.

"Addressing the global COVID-19 pandemic is critical. However, other deadly diseases also threaten the lives of millions of children in some of the poorest areas of the world. That is why today we are urgently calling for global action from country leaders, donors and partners," she added. "We need additional financial resources to safely resume vaccination campaigns and prioritize immunization systems that are critical to protect children and avert other epidemics besides COVID-19."

Peter Hawkins, the country representative for UNICEF in Nigeria, called on all caregivers and parents to ensure that their children are fully vaccinated and protected from childhood killer diseases, including ensuring that all doses are taken so that the vaccine can be effective.

For his part, the WHO country representative for Nigeria, Walter Mulombo, said there must be a continued engagement of traditional and religious institutions, as well as other key stakeholders at community level, who will stay vigilant and keep up vaccination rates to avert a resurgence of the wild poliovirus.

According to the WHO, there has been a global resurgence of measles in recent years with ongoing outbreaks in all parts of the world. Vaccination coverage gaps have been further exacerbated in 2020 by COVID-19. WHO statistics also indicate that in 2019, measles climbed to the highest number of new infections in more than two decades.