Context
Nigeria has the highest number of zero-dose children in the world, accounting for more than a quarter of all unimmunized children globally. Despite tremendous progress, vaccination coverage has plateaued recently and dropped since 2020. Hence, a coverage survey was required to validate the reliability of the existing data, understand barriers to reaching them, and provide the opportunity for the health workers to reach missed and zero-dose children. ACE Strategy and Consult Limited supported the Zamfara Primary Health Care Board and the Kebbi State Primary Health Care Board to conduct a rapid ward immunization survey.
Approach
ACE Strategies and Consult Limited surveyed 3 randomly selected settlements across the 147 wards in Zamfara State. In Kebbi State, the survey employed the use of cluster sampling; thirty clusters were selected in each LGA, and ten children per cluster. Female-only teams were deployed to ensure full access to the households.
Results
In Zamfara, only 53% of surveyed children were fully immunized. The major reason for non and partial immunization was demand issues. The results also indicate that there is a significant correlation between the security situation in some LGAs in Zamfara and their performance across immunization indicators.
In Kebbi also, most LGAs (11 of 12) surveyed had less than 50% fully immunized children, with an average of 28% for the 12 LGAs.
These findings were leveraged by the State Emergency Routine Immunization Coordination Centre (SERICC) and other RI stakeholders to develop specific action plans for improved immunization programming.
Partners: ACE Strategy and Consults | Zamfara State Primary Health Care Development Agency | Kebbi State Primary Health Care Development Agency | Zamfara and Kebbi SERICC