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Immunisation: Nigeria Still Has a Long Way to Go, Says EU

Published

5 years ago

August 23, 2019

Eric

Despite investing over €200 million in Nigeria’s health sector, the European Union (EU) has said there is still a long way to go in the country’s immunisation programme.

The EU has invested over €200 million in support of Nigeria’s health system between 2002 and 2019.

Speaking at the end of its project dissemination seminar, European Union Support to Immunisation Governance (EU-SIGN) in Abuja on Thursday, European Union Ambassador to Nigeria and West Africa, Ketil Karlsen, said this has left the union with mixed feelings.

The theme of the seminar was “Improving Immunisation Governance: Progress, Challenges, Good Practices, Lessons and Recommendations for the future.”

Mr Karlsen noted that it will be reviewing its programmes so as to know what can be done differently in the future.

He said: “Fundamentally the European Union has provided a very long and consistent support for the health sector in Nigeria.

“€200million since 2002, straight 17 years non stop we had partnered with Nigeria authorities, specific society and state government.

“We have come to this crossroad where we need to look at the result and note what we can do differently, what can we do better.

“We stand here with mixed feelings in the sense that only yesterday we celebrated three years without new cases of polio in Nigeria.

“It is only possible, thanks to the collaboration between partners, the federal government, state government and also civil society and a number of international organisations,” he said.

Alarming child mortality

He highlighted that the rate of children’s deaths in Nigeria is alarming.

“But there is still a mixed feeling, nevertheless, because when you look at the numbers, we see that many children are in difficult health conditions.

“UNICEF said one million children below the age of five years in Nigeria die every year and that is really an alarming figure.

“Looking at the immunisation rate in the country, the North in general and the North west in particular, we know that there is a long way to go,” he said.

On the likelihood of EU taking up another program in the country, he noted that the European regional body is defining its priorities for the years ahead.

This, he said, is not for Nigeria alone but a global thing.

“The European Union is currently in a phase where we are defining our priorities for the coming years. This is not only in Nigeria but through out the world,” he said.

He, however, assured that the EU will continue to support the government’s programs and policies.

Speaking on the gains of the EU investment in immunisation, Fiona Braka, the immunisation team lead for World Health Organisation (WHO), said the support from the European Union to the government of Nigeria has greatly impacted on the success on the polio eradication programme.

“And through WHO, the EU provided a grant between 2011 and 2016 to support the polio eradication initiative and subsequently renewed the support in 2017 that will run for four years.

“And with that support, WHO was able to work closely with the government to address the constraint we are facing with eradication of polio and, with that support, campaigns were able to be implemented in areas where immunity needed to be boosted, in high risks state to reach more children with the polio vaccine and interrupt the virus transmission,” she said.

In his remarks, Joseph Oteri, Director, Disease Control and Immunisation. National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) said the EU program has made lots of impact in the country.

Representing the Executive Director of the agency, Faisal Shuaib, Mr Oteri said “This program has impacted a lot as Nigeria celebrated three years without any polio case.

“If you look back, a lot of solar refrigerators were given to states under this program and you know what this means to immunisation. This makes the vaccines very potent.

“All the states where you have EU signed projects have been doing very well. They contributed immensely to where we are today. If we recall, our immunisation coverage has improved in the past years,” he said.

Premium Times

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Breaking: Wike Plans to Attend Thursday’s PDP NEC Meeting

Published

20 hours ago

April 17, 2024

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

The immediate past Governor of Rivers State, and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, may have concluded plans to attend the much advertised National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), billed to hold on Thursday, in Abuja.

Impeccable source, who is in the know, told The Boss that the minister, whose membership of the PDP is yet to be revoked even as he frolicks with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and serving in the President Bola Tinubu government as a minister.

The Source told The Boss that Wike’s impending presence at the NECeeting on Thursday is not unconnected with plans, already hatched with some governors, to weaken the opposition PDP.

“Yes, we have on good authority that FCT minister, Wike is planning to attend the NEC meeting tomorrow all in a bid to weaken the fabrics of the PDP, and pave the way for the continuation of the Tinubu administration come 2027, and by extension, relapse Nigeria to a full blown one party state.

“From every indication, Wike and his co-travellers, are bent on unleashing the same crisis ravaging the third force, Labour Party, and Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso’s Nigerian National People’s Party (NNPP) on the PDP for the APC to remain the only political party in the country, and ensure that Tinubu has no challenger, come 2027,” the Source said.

It would be recalled that Wike has boasted over and again that there’s no opposition against Tinubu’s re-emergence in 2027, and that they have made sure of that. He has been compensated with the Ministerial job after he withdrew support for his party, and supported the APC and Tinubu to emerge as national government.

The Source further revealed that in the attempt to actualize the intended one party state, a lot of funding is ongoing to ensure that concerned stakeholders are ‘settled’ handsomely.

Wike, prior, during and after the 2023 general elections, has been floating in between the two major political parties; the APC and the PDP. While he claim to still be a member of the PDP, he is functioning as a minister in an APC government, mocking the inability of his party to discipline him.

Political stakeholders have concluded that the outcome of Thursday’s PDP NEC meeting will determine the path Nigeria’s political trajectory will take, and that it may portend the end of multi-party system and political democracy if Wike succeeds in his plan.

Headline

Bribery, Corruption: APC Suspends National Chairman, Ganduje

Published

3 days ago

April 15, 2024

Eric

The All Progressives Congress ward in Ganduje, Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area, has suspended the party’s National Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje.

The party ward legal adviser, Halliru Gwanzo, announced the suspension while addressing newsmen in Kano State on Monday.

Gwanzo cited allegations of bribery against Ganduje levelled by the Kano State Government as the reason for the suspension.

“We decided to suspend Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje from the party due to the seriousness of the allegations against him,” Gwanzo said.

Meanwhile, efforts to contact the Chief Press Secretary to the APC National Chairman, Mr Edwin Olufo, failed as his mobile phone was unreachable.

Headline

Akpabio Commits to Collaboration with Tinubu, Governor Umo Eno

Published

6 days ago

April 12, 2024

Admin

The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has stated his commitment to working closely with Nigeria’s President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and Governor Umo Eno to ensure the delivery of democratic benefits to the people of Akwa Ibom State.

Akpabio stated this in his country home, Ukana, Essien Udim Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom, while briefing his constituents on the journey so far as their representative in the red chamber.

He assured the people of Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District of his commitment to their welfare in appreciation of their total support for him, President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in last year’s election.

The Highpoint of the constituency briefing was the distribution of over 10,000 bags of rice and other essentials for his constituents from the wards, to the local governments.

A statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Jackson Udom, quoted Akpabio as saying, “I am here once again, to thank you for standing by me, our President and the party, before, during and even after last year’s elections. I have come to say thank you and also bring Renewed Hope to you all.

“As the President is doing his own, the Senate President is also doing his bit and being complemented by the state governor, Akwa Ibom would be the better for it. We have finished elections and politics, we are now into governance. The governor of the state must touch you, because he is the governor of all the people in the state irrespective of political affiliation.

” As I am touching you now from the political angle, I will also touch the state without any political party affiliation. Most of the projects we are putting in place would be used by people resident in the state. Relax, things are getting better.”

The former Governor of the state, assured his constituents that his current position as the Senate President would be used for the development of the state in collaboration with the President and the Akwa Ibom State Governor.

Hear him: This Senate President is not the one that would be fighting the state government. I will collaborate with , I will collaborate with , to make the state better for us all. We cannot be out of government for a long time. You have to go to a government that carries you along”

Akpabio promised to work for his constituents and Nigeria with all his strength, noting that, “as the President of the Senate, I am for the Southern region and the entire country. I may not come here regularly to tell you what I have been doing for you, but you will be feeling the impact on way or the other. Our unemployed youths would be gainfully employed. I will construct a mini stadium in all the local governments in the district, for our youths to develop their sporting potentials. ”