Six states in Nigeria are marking 10 years of the Northern Nigeria Routine Immunisation Strengthening Project (NNRISP).
NNRISP has been an evolutionary journey over the past 10 years, designed to strengthen Primary Health Care Services in implementing states to take ownership of the project.
The states involved are Bauchi, Borno, Kaduna, Kano, Sokoto, and Yobe.
Some of the states representatives spoke on Thursday in Abuja, on the sidelines of a closeout event by the Solina Centre for International Development and Research (SCIDaR).
They said that the project strengthened routine immunisation services in their states.
Dr Rilwan Mohammed, Executive Director, Bauchi State Primary Health Care Development Agency, said that the state was crying when it heard the project was closing out because the intervention started in 2013 and is closing out in 2022.
“What we received from these people is real technical support and training, particularly on routine immunizations, research and support for our annual operation plan.
“This is very important because it is from there that we check our budget and see whether we are achieving what we set to achieve,” he said.
“If we look at the impact of the SCIDaR in the area of routine immunisation, we were down; it was only five per cent in 2012, and now, we are 33 per cent in coverage.
“It was the result of collaboration between SCIDaR, partners and our government. Also, our coverage for family planning was as low as 25 per cent in acceptance, now it is about 65 per cent,” he said.
Speaking on the impact on his state, Dr Musa Usman, a representative from Yobe State, said that the MoU was informed by the poor health indices, weak health system and lack of accountability.
“So, after the implementation of the MoU, the indices had improved.
“We have seen an increase in Immunisation coverage from nine per cent in 2013 to 51 per cent.
“Now, there is assured funding for critical health activity which hitherto were not available; not accounted for,” he said.
Usman said that the state used to have over 60 per cent stock-out of vaccines, but currently, it had been at five per cent for the past four-five years.
“The MoU is serving as a platform for other different interventions.
“Using the same framework, we are now able to expand it to an integrated Primary Health Care MoU that caters for all PHC activities,” he said.
According to him, most implementing states used to collect data from partners, now the reverse is the case.
He said that the state now had a data control room for all PHC services.
“Our data is reliable because the quality of the data has improved,” he said.
Dr Lawi Auta Mshelia, Former ED, SPHCDA, Borno State, said that amid the insurgency, the Borno State Government would not have been able to achieve all it had done in strengthening PHCs.
Mshelia said this was made possible with support from the NNRISP project implemented by SCIDaR in the state.
The former Commissioner for Health in Yobe State, Dr Muhammed Lawan, said that the state had seen several benefits from NNRISP, including improvements in maternal and child health.
Lawan said that there had been an increased uptake of Immunisation services and mechanisms that strengthened health systems.
Meanwhile, Dr Raihanah Ibrahim, Principal Programme Manager, SCIDaR, said that the NNRISP had been on an evolutionary journey with the MoUs over the past 10 years.
Ibrahim said that all the steps taken were to strengthen Primary Health care in implementing states, and more importantly, allow states to take ownership of the project.
She said that socio-cultural factors such as poverty, illiteracy and myths affected the acceptance and uptake of immunisation in communities where the project was implemented.
“However, the MoUs changed the narrative, addressed gaps and increased engagement through sustained advocacy.
“Political will of state governments and systems approach that promotes accountability is a positive asset to the MOUs establishment and implementation.
“It enabled transferable focus on finances, stock/supply chain and data monitoring from governance to facility level,” she explained.
Recognising the need for reforms to galvanise resources and support to address routine immunisation performance, the six states entered into an MoU partnerships with the Aliko Dangote Foundation and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
SCIDaR provided technical support for the project which lasted from 2013 to 2022.
A total of 59.4 million dollars was invested across the states.
While Gates and Dangote foundations invested 30 million dollars, the state governments provided the remaining funding.
The State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (SPHCDA) is responsible for the planning, implementation, and supervision of primary healthcare Programmes and services in the states.
The agency will work to ensure equitable access to quality healthcare, with a focus on preventive and promotive services, including routine Immunisation.
The project was birthed due to the state routine immunities system in Northern Nigeria, dogged by significant system challenges contributing to poor health outcomes.
The National surveys reported low vaccination coverage across many of the northern states which contributed to huge numbers of childhood illnesses and deaths from vaccine-preventable diseases.
