The World Health Organisation (WHO) through its Representative, Dr. Fiona Braka on Tuesday in Abuja, made a pledge to the Nigerian Government to sustain a yearly donation of 20 million doses of vaccines towards eradicate yellow fever in the nation.
Dr. Braka said the organization is committed to partnering with the country to ensure achieving the total vaccination of the populace, in line with the global Elimination of Yellow Epidemics (EYE) by 2026.
“The global community is committed to this course and would meet the target despite the global vaccine shortfall,” she said. “As part of the strategy, we must protect the hard-to-reach population and curtail the outbreak rapidly to protect against international spread."
The Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) Dr. Faisal Shuaib, revealed that the Federal Government would on Wednesday commence the phase two of vaccination in the four states where the country had recorded outbreaks of the disease including Kogi, Kwara, Zamfara and Borno.
He added that, the programme is part of the 2026 project to vaccinate the entire populace whose age falls between nine months to 45 years.
About 10.4 million people were vaccinated in the phase one of the exercise, which covered 20 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in 2014.
He further disclosed that about one million doses would be utilised in accessable IDP camps in Borno during each preventive camping, which would run from February 5-14 2018.
Braka added that other states would be selected based on evolving epidemiology, while the next preventive campaign would likely be in the fourth quarter of 2018.
