Cross River State has maintained 95 per cent national immunisation coverage, but health authorities say significant gaps remain in reaching children in underserved and hard-to-reach communities.
The state currently has only about 200 of more than 1,000 health facilities providing routine immunisation services, a situation the government says must be addressed to ensure that high coverage is sustained across all communities.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Henry Egbe Ayuk, disclosed this yesterday in Calabar when an evaluation and surveillance team from the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), Lagos, and the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) visited the Ministry to assess the state’s immunisation and polio surveillance performance.
Ayuk said the state’s strong coverage was encouraging but warned that sustaining the achievement would require increased funding, stronger partnerships and wider access to vaccination services.
“When we talk about sustainable financing, we are talking not only about the state and public appropriation. We also advocate for more partnership.”
He said the government would use the findings from the assessment to develop a strategic roadmap for strengthening primary healthcare delivery and expanding vaccine access across all local government areas.
According to the Commissioner, increasing the number of health facilities offering immunisation would be critical to closing access gaps, particularly for communities located far from existing vaccination centres.
95% coverage, but access remains uneven
Prof. Oliver Ezechi of NIMR, Lagos, said the team conducted an external review of Cross River’s polio surveillance system as part of efforts to ensure that the state maintains its immunisation gains.
He said the state was currently recording 95 per cent national immunisation coverage, describing the performance as a major strength.
“The purpose of this visit is external review of the surveillance systems for polio in the state. The most important is that presently Cross River State is scoring, in terms of national immunisation coverage, 95 per cent.”
Ezechi said the assessment was also aimed at identifying areas requiring improvement so the state could maintain or surpass the benchmark.
He stressed that strong surveillance remains essential to detecting poliovirus early and preventing the reversal of progress made in polio eradication.
No circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus recorded
Dr. Kafayat Ajakaye of NPHCDA said Cross River was among the states selected for the external review because of its immunisation performance.
She said the state was performing well, with no circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus recorded.
However, she said surveillance systems must remain strong to guard against possible importation of poliovirus from other states.
The assessment covered three local government areas, nine health facilities, nine community informants and nine parents of children with acute flaccid paralysis, a key indicator used in polio surveillance.
The review is expected to help identify weaknesses in immunisation delivery and surveillance while strengthening systems needed to protect children against vaccine-preventable diseases.
For Cross River, maintaining 95 per cent coverage will therefore depend not only on keeping children reached by existing vaccination programmes, but also on ensuring that those living
