The Director of Primary Health Care in Jigawa State, Northwest Nigeria, Dr Shehu Sambo has said the immunisation uptake in the state increased from seven per cent in 2016 to 49 per cent in 2021.
Sambo disclosed this on Wednesday in Dutse, during the two-day media dialogue and field trip on ‘Strengthening PHC systems: the United Nations Children’s Fund PHC Memorandum of Understanding in Jigawa State,’ organised by UNICEF and the Child Rights Information Bureau of the Federal Ministry of Information.
He said the MoU was signed in 2022 between the Jigawa State Government, the Federal Government, the Nigeria Governors Forum, Gavi, and UNICEF to improve routine immunisation, and PHC systems, and reduce deaths, particularly among women and children.
Sambo explained that while the MoU was signed with GAVI, UNICEF is the vehicle used to convey funds from GAVI to the state.
He noted that one of the strategies adopted in increasing the immunisation uptake is strengthening the task force on PHC through strong leadership and governance.
He stressed that the MoU helped to strengthen PHC service delivery, human resource capacity, and immunisation in the state.
“If you look at the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey that was conducted in 2016, we had a Penta 3 coverage of seven per cent only. So, you can see that as of then, only seven per cent of our children were reached with the Penta 3 vaccine. The agency was created that same year, the task was to bring in new things to change the narrative.
“Coincidentally, after some years of the creation of the agency, the PHC MoU came into the discussion, and we were able to sign and get approval of the MoU. Luckily, we started accessing funding for service delivery so that we can reach all the children that are eligible for routine immunisation in the state.
“We were working tirelessly, bringing a lot of innovations. We brought in state outreach on immunisation, and health ambassador innovation, among others including accessing funds from GAVI; when the survey came in 2021, we got a 700 per cent increase from the previous one, and with that, we moved from seven per cent to 49 per cent.
“We thought we would reach 70 or 80 per cent but a 700 per cent increase is unheard of in Jigawa. We never had double-digit immunisation coverage, not until we had all the funding coming from the state,” he stated.
He noted that the funding from Gavi gave them more funding to engage midwives and train frontline healthcare workers to deliver the needed services to all the hard-to-reach areas across the state.
“Prior to the MoU, we had about 120 midwives in the PHC setting, but now, we have engaged over 300 midwives to add to what we have. As we speak now, we have over 500 midwives working in the PHC space of Jigawa State.
“Previously, our skilled birth attendance was less than 20 per cent. Now, we are inching towards 60 per cent of SBA deliveries across Jigawa State. For any woman that is helped to deliver a baby in a well-run facility, there is a likelihood of bringing the child for immunisation, and postnatal care. And it was coined in the MoU that at the end of the agreement, the state should absorb all the midwives that we engaged initially, and it is about sustainability,” he added.
The Chief of Health at UNICEF, Dr Eduardo Celades said the organisation is committed to improving PHC in the country.
Celades stated, “We have been investing a lot in Jigawa, significant amounts of resources, about N2bn for last year, to support the efforts of the government in strengthening PHC. We are seeing the results. This year, 20,000 additional people are getting health insurance in Jigawa. We are seeing how the immunisation coverage has increased, and we are trying to improve the data. We are seeing how the percentage of women accessing SBA has increased from 20 per cent to almost 50 per cent.
“But still, a lot needs to be done. We saw, for example, how new health workers have been hired by the government, thanks to the project. We are seeing that 80 per cent of the local government areas have good immunisation coverage, according to the data. We are seeing how the investment of the government of the Jigawa government in PHC has increased this year to 16 per cent, compared with the previous year.
‘So, we believe that we are on the right track to improve the health outcomes for women and children in Jigawa.”
SOURCE: PUNCH NEWS
