Lawmakers from four northern states, Bauchi, Borno, Kano, and Sokoto, have launched a coordinated legislative push aimed at reducing the number of zero-dose children in Nigeria.
The commitment, now dubbed the “Lagos Declaration”, aims to address the country’s immunisation gaps.
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The Chairman, House Committee on Health Care Services, National Assembly, Amos Magaji, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Sunday in Abuja, that the move came after a two-day Legislative Retreat on Immunisation Equity, held in Lagos from 18-19 July.
Mr Magaji said the event brought together key stakeholders from the National Assembly, State Houses of Assembly, and Primary Health Care Development Agencies from Bauchi, Borno, Kano, and Sokoto States.
Organised under the Zero Dose Learning Hub (ZDLH) initiative, the retreat had the theme: “Legislative Partnerships for Reaching Zero-Dose Children in Nigeria.”
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He said it provided a platform for lawmakers and state health executives to develop strategic, evidence-based responses to the immunisation crisis affecting some of the country’s most vulnerable populations.
“We are confronting a preventable tragedy. Too many Nigerian children are still missing life-saving vaccines. This retreat is about taking legislative responsibility for health equity,” he said.
He noted that deliberations at the retreat revealed several critical challenges.
“One was the absence of routine immunisation budget lines in several states, which threatens the sustainable financing of vaccination programmes,” he said.
Another issue he highlighted was the low uptake of vaccines, largely driven by persistent socio-cultural norms, geographic inaccessibility, and conflict-related disruptions.
Additionally, he said the lack of governing boards in some State Primary Health Care Development agencies was identified as a major gap, undermining effective governance and coordination of service delivery.
Mr Magaji said that these gaps had contributed to Nigeria remaining one of the top five countries globally with the highest number of zero-dose children, children who have not received even a single dose of any routine vaccine.
He said the retreat ended with a communique outlining several legislative commitments.
“One of the key resolutions was to convene a national meeting of Chairmen of Health Committees from all 36 states in Abuja by the fourth quarter of 2025.
“The lawmakers also pledged to advocate for the inclusion of dedicated immunisation budget lines in the 2026 state budgets to ensure sustained funding for vaccine delivery,” he said.
Additionally, he said the legislators committed to conducting oversight visits to ZDLH project states, beginning with Borno, to assess progress on the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF), counterpart funding, and Health Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs).
He also underlined the need to strengthen legislative involvement in decentralised immunisation monitoring (DIM) surveys to improve local accountability.
Furthermore, he said it was resolved that state health committees would carry out quarterly oversight functions to ensure the timely release and effective utilisation of funds allocated for primary health care and immunisation.
He also committed to ensuring that local government chairpersons and lawmakers from ZDLH-supported LGAs receive a briefing on survey findings, in a bid to deepen accountability and local ownership.
“This isn’t just a health issue, it’s a national development emergency. “The time for fragmented efforts is over. The legislature must lead from the front,” he said.
NAN recalls that according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), an estimated two million Nigerian children remain unvaccinated, the majority of them living in rural, hard-to-reach, or conflict-affected communities.
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The Zero Dose Learning Hub initiative, supported by a consortium of development partners, aims to test and scale innovative solutions across its focus states using the IRMMA Strategy: Identify, Reach, Monitor, Measure, and Advocate.
With the National Assembly taking an active stance, attention will now shift to how effectively these commitments translate into action at the federal and state levels.
For many stakeholders, this retreat is not just a symbolic step; it may represent a pivotal moment in Nigeria’s quest to reach every child, everywhere, with life-saving vaccines.
(NAN)
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