The Federal Government, through the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), in collaboration with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, has unveiled the Health Systems Strengthening 3 (HSS3) $191 million grant, aimed at addressing the issue of zero-dose and low immunisation coverage in Nigeria.

This substantial investment is expected to improve access to life-saving vaccines for millions of Nigerian children, particularly those in underserved and hard-to-reach communities, over the next four years.

The grant will support efforts to strengthen the country’s immunisation systems, improve vaccine delivery, and raise awareness about the importance of vaccination.

The Chief Executive Officer of Gavi, Dr Sania Nishtar, made this known during the official unveiling of the HSS3 support programme in Abuja on Friday.

The CEO, represented by Alex de Jonquieres, Director of Health System Strengthening at Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, stated that Nigeria is home to the largest number of zero-dose children—those who have not received a single dose of routine vaccines—in the world.

She added that low immunisation coverage continues to result in repeated outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases and preventable deaths.

“To address this, we are today launching Gavi’s next health systems strengthening grant with another $191M of funding over the next 4 years.

“This grant is one of the largest ever made by Gavi and is intended to help extend the reach of the health system to reach 1.8 million zero dose children and increase immunization coverage to 84% by 2028.”

“This grant was designed by the Government of Nigeria through an inclusive planning process across FMOH, NPHCDA and other agencies at the federal and state levels and with support from WHO, UNICEF, many other partners and civil society and private sector organizations.

“It received strong endorsement from our technical review panel for its strategic vision, digital innovation and focus on sustainability.”

“Nearly 80% of [the grant] is supporting work at the sub-national level and more than 10% of that will flow to civil society organizations working at the community levels to ensure the funding is available as close as possible to the communities we are seeking to reach.

“The National Traditional Leaders’ Committee will be a key partner in helping amplify these efforts at the sub-national level.”

The CEO also noted that Gavi has provided $260 million to strengthen Nigeria’s health system to deliver vaccines, along with additional support for vaccination campaigns.

“This has enabled introduction of 9 vaccines in Nigeria, including most recently, vaccines against HPV – which has already protected 13.5 million Nigerian girls against cervical cancer – and malaria. In recognizing Nigeria’s importance, the Gavi Board approved a special 10-year strategy for Nigeria in 2018.

“This strategy helps provide Nigeria with the vaccines it needs with $1.1 billion worth of vaccines procured since 2018 – one third by the Government of Nigeria and two thirds by Gavi. It also provides $260 million to strengthen Nigeria’s health system to deliver these vaccines as well as additional support to implement vaccination campaigns.”

“To-date, this two-pronged strategy has enabled Nigeria to extend immunisation to 1.7 million zero-dose children – those who otherwise would not have received a single vaccine. Reach 91 million under-5 children through vaccination campaigns, procure and install 11,405 units of CCE at PHC, LGA and state cold stores.”

She further revealed that the grant will directly support eight states: Bayelsa, Gombe, Jigawa, Niger, Katsina, Kebbi, Taraba, and Zamfara.

She also highlighted that 3,683 health workers have been recruited, who—in addition to immunisation—have supported 572,000 mothers in delivering their babies. Furthermore, 493 primary healthcare centres have been renovated and made more functional, while 780 motorcycles, 6 buses, 10 motorised boats, and 1 refrigerated van have been provided to support vaccine distribution and immunisation services.

“In addition, we are also investing close $100M this year in a vaccination campaign to protect over 100M children against Measles and Rubella, our largest ever such campaign.

“This support is designed to fully align with the pioneering Sector Wide Approach and health sector reform programme being led by the Coordinating Minister. At the same time, Gavi investment is intended to be catalytic and complementary to investments by the Government of Nigeria. We therefore look to the government to continue to increase domestic investment in the health sector and in immunisation specifically.

“We also look forward to robust accountability from both Government and implementing partners to ensure that every Naira invested results in systemic improvements in the performance of the health system and ultimately lead to more Nigerian children’s lives being saved.

“I believe Nigeria is on the cusp of transforming its immunisation programme and massively accelerating progress to protect every child with immunisation. I am excited that today marks the first step in that journey towards a future in which no child dies unnecessarily from a disease that could have been prevented by vaccine.

In closing, appreciation for the wonderful event – a fitting launch for this critical endeavour – and look forward to further strengthening partnership and to the impact we will have together.”

The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, expressed appreciation to Gavi for its sustained investment in Nigeria’s health sector over the years. He noted that the government and people of Nigeria remain grateful and will not take the partnership for granted.

“Your investment in Nigeria has saved millions of lives and enabled the country’s immunization program to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Add that it also enabled the country introduce new vaccines, including HPV, malaria and Mpox vaccines.

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“The mission of Gavi to save lives and protect people’s health by increasing equitable and sustainable use of vaccines aligns with the vision of the national HSSB, which is to save lives, reduce both physical and financial pain and produce health for ALL Nigerians.”

He stressed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration is committed to making quality health services equitably accessible and affordable to all, and to rapidly reducing maternal and child mortality. He added that this commitment forms the basis of the ongoing reforms in Nigeria’s health sector.

The Executive Director and CEO of NPHCDA, Dr Muyi Aina, commended the gesture and reiterated the agency’s commitment to working closely with Gavi and other international partners to ensure that Nigerian children have access to vaccines.

He said, “We had over 1.7 million those Nigeria children were vaccinated as part of the zero-dose adoption operational plan, the return immunization intensification, as well as the peak catch-up initiatives that are ongoing. We had 91 million children on the five were reached.

“As we commence the implementation of the 3 HSS as they are launching today we will begin to continue to see more positive and citizen-focused improvements in immunization and PHC services across the country.

“We call for your support on this journey and to engage and give us feedback, but also participate to improve vaccination and primary health care in our country through this programme,” he added.

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