BY: NEWS EDITOR, JUNE 14, 2025/ 04:20PM
The Borno State Zero Dose Learning Hub (ZDLH) Community of Practice (CoP) has called for increased efforts to eradicate zero-dose children in Jere and Maiduguri Metropolitan Council (MMC) local government areas.
According to Borno State Africa Health Budget Network (AFENET) team lead, Dr. Melton Musa, 33% of children in Jere and 21% in MMC have not received the Penta 1 vaccine, indicating they have not received any vaccination.
The report highlights a significant gap in achieving the goal of eradicating zero-dose children in these areas.
To address this, the report recommends sensitization on antenatal care attendance for pregnant women before 20 weeks of gestation, increased sensitization and awareness on the importance of institutional delivery, updating the master list of settlements in the state, targeted interventions in all wards of Jere and MMC local governments, and continuous engagement of household heads on childhood immunization.
The Borno State ZDLH CoP, chaired by Dr. Ali Danladi Gambo, on Friday held a meeting in Maiduguri to finalize the immunization scorecard 2024, developed with support from AHBN and AFENET in close collaboration with the Borno State Primary Health Care Development Board (BoSPHCDB) and other partners.
Stakeholders, including media representatives, partners, and government officials, attended the event.
Key findings from the AFENET-conducted Decentralized Immunization Monitoring (DIM) were presented by Dr. Melton and a review of CoP activities since inception was presented by the CoP Secretariat lead, Adam Gujja.
The scorecard aims to advocate for more efforts to reduce the zero-dose burden in the state.
With the scorecard's development, the CoP hopes to push for more action to ensure every child in Borno State receives necessary vaccinations.