4.7 million Northeast children receive measles vaccination - UN

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says a major vaccination campaign against a measles outbreak in northeast Nigeria is reaching 4.7 million children.

Mohamed Fall, UNICEF Representative in Nigeria, stated this in a statement according to the Office of the UN Secretary-General.

“Security has improved in some areas so we have acted quickly to access places we could not previously reach and protect children from the spread of a very dangerous disease.

“The campaign, concluding this week, is covering the three states most affected by the Boko Haram conflict – Adamawa, Borno and Yobe – where insecurity has limited vaccination efforts.

“We are still extremely concerned about children living in large areas of Borno state that are not yet accessible,” Fall said.

He said in 2016, there were approximately 25,000 cases of measles among children in Nigeria while 97 per cent of the cases were in children under the age of 10 and at least 100 children died.

“Measles infections tend to increase during the first half of the year because of higher temperatures.

“Measles vaccination coverage across Nigeria remains low, with a little over 50 per cent of children reached, but in areas affected by conflict, children are particularly vulnerable.

“The risks for malnourished children who have weakened immunity are further heightened.”

He said the vaccination campaign, conducted in partnership with the Federal  Government, the World Health Organisation, and several non-governmental organisations, also included a vitamin A supplement for children under five to boost their immunity, as well as de-worming tablets.

“The emergency in northeast Nigeria remains acute with more than 1.6 million people displaced because of the conflict.

“Of the 115 million dollars called for in 2016, only 51 million dollars was received.

“In 2017, UNICEF is seeking 150 million dollars to respond to the urgent humanitarian needs in northeast Nigeria.”