South Korea commits $5.6m to boost child immunisation in Lagos, four other states
South Korea has earmarked $5.6 million for a children’s immunisation project in Lagos and four other states, aimed at reducing the number of zero-dose children and strengthening vaccination coverage across targeted communities.
South Korea has earmarked $5.6 million for a children’s immunisation project in Lagos and four other states, aimed at reducing the number of zero-dose children and strengthening vaccination coverage across targeted communities.
The Korean Consul-General to Nigeria, Mr Sang Ho Lee, disclosed this on Thursday during the flag-off ceremony of the Republic of Korea-UNICEF Investments on Routine Immunisation held in Badagry, Lagos, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
He said the project is designed to reduce zero-dose vaccination among children in 40 local government areas across Lagos, Ogun, Niger, Bauchi, Adamawa states and the Federal Capital Territory.
Speaking on the scope of the initiative, Lee said it would focus on targeted vaccination campaigns, expansion of immunisation sessions in outbreak-prone communities, and strengthening of immunisation systems, noting that “it will also address social and behavioural determinants of immunisation.”
Also speaking, the Chairman of Badagry Local Government Area, Mr Babatunde Hunpe, described immunisation as one of the most cost-effective ways of protecting lives, noting that it safeguards not just individuals but entire communities.
He added that several diseases, including measles, polio, diphtheria and meningitis, have claimed millions of lives across Africa, stressing that “yet, all of these are preventable through routine immunisation.”
According to Mrs Wafaa Saeed, the UNICEF Country Representative in Nigeria, vaccination saves at least four million lives globally each year.
She added that UNICEF estimates show that about two million children in Nigeria have received no vaccines at all.
Although Nigeria was declared free of wild poliovirus by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2020, the virus has not been completely eliminated.
