The Sultan Foundation for Peace and Development has called for stronger collaboration among stakeholders in Zamfara State to improve vaccine uptake.
The foundation said collaboration among Routine Immunisation (RI) service providers, community-based organisations (CBOs) and partners would help address the zero-dose burden and ensure that children receive life-saving vaccines.
The foundation’s Head of Programme, Jamilu Gulbi, stated this at a one-day onboarding meeting for routine immunisation service providers held on Tuesday in Gusau.
The exercise is being organised to support the Zamfara Tracking and Accountability for Equitable Immunisation (Z-TRACE) project.
Z-TRACE seeks to address the zero-dose burden, with an estimated 269,241 affected children across seven local government areas of the state.
The affected children are in underserved settlements, hard-to-reach communities and populations facing social, geographical and health system barriers.
To address the problem, the foundation, with support from the Gavi CSO Fund Mechanism, is targeting 30 per cent of the 80,772 zero-dose children.
Gulbi said the initiative aims to address gaps in immunisation coverage by improving the identification, vaccination and tracking of children who have missed vaccines or are yet to complete their immunisation schedules.
He identified inaccurate data, difficulties in community outreach and weak links between health facilities, immunisation service providers and community structures as some of the challenges preventing eligible children from accessing immunisation services.
According to Gulbi, the project’s success depends largely on effective coordination among CBOs, mobilisers and immunisation service providers.
“While CBOs and mobilisers will identify zero-dose and under-immunised children, health workers will be responsible for administering vaccines, documenting services provided and validating the information collected,” he said.
Gulbi outlined four key areas of focus: identifying and referring children; vaccination and reporting; immunisation data validation and quality improvement; and accountability mechanisms to ensure that every identified child receives the required vaccines.
He stressed the need for vaccinators to ensure timely vaccination and accurate reporting of children referred from communities, noting that reliable data was essential for effective planning and decision-making.
He said the project would establish a two-way accountability system to track identified children until they completed their routine immunisation schedules.
Gulbi urged participants to engage actively in the meeting, share their field experiences and identify practical ways to improve collaboration among stakeholders.
He commended the state and local health authorities for their support in facilitating the smooth conduct of the exercise.
“The meeting aims to strengthen existing immunisation services rather than create additional burdens for health workers,” he said.
Al-Mustapha Alinkilo, Director of Disease Control and Immunisation at the Zamfara State Primary Healthcare Development Board, said the meeting brought together immunisation officers to mobilise support and improve vaccine uptake in the state.
Alinkilo said engaging volunteers would raise awareness and encourage parents to present their children for immunisation.
He identified a lack of awareness about the importance of immunisation as one of the major challenges affecting vaccine uptake in the state.
Alinkilo said the state government was making vaccines available to protect children against vaccine-preventable diseases, adding that 656 health facilities were currently providing routine immunisation services.
He said effective collaboration among stakeholders was crucial to improving immunisation coverage and reducing the burden of vaccine-preventable diseases.
The meeting was attended by immunisation officers, health officials and representatives of implementing partners.
