Cross River State has sustained 95 per cent national immunisation coverage, even as the State Government moves to close gaps in vaccine access and strengthen surveillance systems to ensure that more residents, particularly those in hard-to-reach communities, benefit from routine immunisation.
Commissioner for Health, Dr. Henry Egbe Ayuk, stated this on Tuesday in Calabar when a visiting evaluation and surveillance team from the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), Lagos, and the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) met with the Ministry to review the state’s immunisation and polio surveillance performance.
Ayuk commended the evaluation teams and health sector partners for their collaborative support in reviewing the state’s health indices, stressing that sustaining the gains recorded in immunisation would require stronger partnerships and improved financing.
“I have listened to your presentation, and I hope that I’ll have a copy of that presentation. Advocating for improved funding is not just a matter of the state government alone. When we talk about sustainable financing, we are talking not only about the state, the public appropriation, which of course we would also advocate for improvement, we also advocate for more partnership,” Ayuk said.
The Commissioner, however, identified the need to expand the reach of immunisation services, disclosing that only about 200 of the more than 1,000 health facilities across the state are currently delivering immunisation services.
He said the gap underscored the need for the government and its partners to improve the capacity and reach of health facilities, particularly in communities where geographical barriers could limit access to essential healthcare services.
Ayuk assured that the Ministry would integrate the findings and recommendations of the comprehensive evaluation into an actionable strategic roadmap aimed at strengthening primary healthcare delivery and expanding vaccine accessibility across all Local Government Areas.
He said the state would continue to work with national institutions, development partners and other stakeholders to consolidate its 95 per cent immunisation coverage while addressing areas requiring further intervention.
Speaking on the outcome of the assessment, Prof. Oliver Ezechi of NIMR, Lagos, said the team was in the state for an external review of its polio surveillance system and had identified several strengths in the state’s response mechanisms.
“The purpose of this visit is external review of the surveillance systems for polio in the state. We’ve seen, we just finished discussing with the Commissioner, and we’ve identified a lot of strengths. But the most important is that presently Cross River State is scoring in terms of national immunization coverage 95 per cent,” Ezechi said.
He explained that the essence of the exercise was to ensure that Cross River maintained or surpassed the 95 per cent coverage, stressing the importance of effective surveillance in protecting the gains already recorded against polio.
Also speaking, Dr. Kafayat Ajakaye of NPHCDA said Cross River was among the states selected for the external surveillance review and was performing well, with about 95 per cent immunisation coverage and no circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus.
Ajakaye said the exercise was also aimed at identifying areas that required strengthening to prevent the movement of poliovirus into Cross River from other states, with the assessment covering three Local Government Areas representing high-, medium- and low-performing categories, nine health facilities, nine community informants and nine parents of acute flaccid paralysis cases.
By Kingsley Agim
