UNICEF launches polio catch-up campaign in Northeast Nigeria.

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BY ADAMU ALIYU NGULDE

In northeast Nigeria, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has initiated a targeted campaign to vaccinate children against polio.

The 2025 World Immunization Week commemoration includes the campaign, which will see millions of children vaccinated, as part of the child-centered events.

UNICEF has launched a catch-up campaign to vaccinate under five-year-old children who missed the polio vaccination during the government's routine immunization schedule, following the release of its Zero Dose Song last year.

Nigeria has been declared polio-free by the World Health Organization (WHO), but stakeholders are still concerned about other polio strains that can paralyze children.

In a statement jointly issued by UNICEF, WHO, and Gavi, the resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases like polio, measles, and diphtheria threatens the survival of children across the world.

According to UNICEF, at least 24 million childhood paralysis cases have been prevented by oral polio vaccines since 1988.

The UNICEF Executive Director, Catherine Russel, cautioned that the global funding cut could have an impact on the commitment to reach millions of children with the polio vaccine if political commitment and domestic funding are not increased across countries.

“The global funding crisis is severely limiting our ability to vaccinate over 15 million vulnerable children in fragile and conflict-affected countries against measles,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. 

“Immunization services, disease surveillance, and the outbreak response in nearly 50 countries are already being disrupted, with setbacks at a similar level to what we saw during COVID-19. We cannot afford to lose ground in the fight against preventable diseases.”


 Also adding his voice, the WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “Vaccines have saved more than 150 million lives over the past five decades. 

Funding cuts to global health have put these hard-won gains in jeopardy. Outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases are increasing around the world, putting lives at risk and exposing countries to increased costs in treating diseases and responding to outbreaks. 
Countries with limited resources must invest in the highest-impact interventions – and that includes vaccines.”

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