All hands must be on deck to ensure every child receives life-saving vaccines — Dr. Itunu Dave-Agboola, Policy & Advocacy Coordinator, GSK- BOOST Project

By Sola Charles

At a dialogue in commemoration of World Polio Day 2025, key players in the Lagos State health sector converged with a unified resolve to strengthen routine immunisation and end the scourge of vaccine-preventable diseases among children.

The stakeholder meeting  organised by Save the Children International under the GSK Better Opportunities for Optimised Targeted Intervention (BOOST) project for Zero-Dose and Unimmunised Children in Nigeria, brought together representatives from government, professional health associations, academia, media and development partners among others 

Speaking at the forum, the Policy and Advocacy Coordinator for the BOOST Project, Dr. Itunu Dave-Agboola, explained that the gathering was one of several activities designed to mark the 2025 World Polio Day, an initiative originally championed by Rotary International. She said the meeting aimed to identify the enablers and barriers to routine immunisation in Lagos and across Nigeria, noting that despite progress made, significant challenges remain.

“Some of the barriers identified include inadequate funding, shortage of skilled manpower in hard-to-reach areas, and attitude, both from caregivers and health workers. We focus largely on attitude because attitude can be an issue on the part of both the health worker and the caregiver. 

“When the caregiver misses appointments or comes late, it could be an issue, and then that's why health workers in not showing empathy or not being kind to the caregiver or long waiting times could be things that would put off parents and caregivers from bringing their children for immunisation. Our expectation going forward is that all hands will be on deck from both public and private sectors to improve service delivery and ensure that every child receives life-saving vaccines,” she asserted.

The interactive session culminated in a communique outlining practical steps to overcome these barriers. Recommendations included improved service delivery, health worker training, enhanced caregiver education, and regular feedback meetings to evaluate progress and share best practices.

Dave-Agboola noted that all associations present pledged to cascade the resolutions to their members and play an active role in ensuring optimal immunisation coverage. She commended Save the Children International and GSK for funding the initiative under the BOOST project, describing the collaboration as a critical driver of Nigeria’s fight against zero-dose and under-immunised children.

“Part of our activities include sensitisation, creation of awareness, and we've had television and radio programmes to create awareness about the benefits of routine immunisation, and why prevention is better than cure, especially in the face of prevalence, childhood killer diseases, that are prevalent in our environment.

She said the activity was largely to call stakeholders together from both the public and private sector to identify the enablers and barriers to routine immunization. Among barriers identified include inadequate funding, inadequate manpower, especially in reaching rural and hard-to-reach areas, and then attitude.

We expect all hands will be on deck from both the public and private sector to ensure optimal routine immunisation by improving service delivery, improving the attitude of caregivers and health workers. 

“Caregivers will be certified through health education. They will be educated when they bring their children for immunisation, and health workers will be trained. Their capacity will be built on how to relate better, build rapport with parents and caregivers who bring their children for immunisation."

Among participants were representatives of various health workers associations, including the Association of General Medical and Private Medical Practitioners of Nigeria (AGPMPN), Nursery and Midwifery Council of Nigeria, Nursery Council, Pediatric Association of Nigeria, Pharmacist Council of Nigeria (PCN).

Others were the Lagos State Ministry of Health (LSMOH) and Lagos State Primary Health Care Board (LSPHCB). the Provost of the College of Nursing, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH).