{"id":6470,"date":"2025-07-21T15:20:32","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T15:20:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regtechafrica.com\/healthcare\/?p=6470"},"modified":"2025-07-21T15:20:32","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T15:20:32","slug":"nigeria-lawmakers-unite-under-lagos-declaration-to-tackle-nigerias-zero-dose-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regtechafrica.com\/healthcare\/nigeria-lawmakers-unite-under-lagos-declaration-to-tackle-nigerias-zero-dose-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigeria: Lawmakers Unite Under Lagos Declaration to Tackle Nigeria\u2019s Zero-Dose Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a significant move to address Nigeria\u2019s persistent immunisation gaps, lawmakers from Bauchi, Borno, Kano, and Sokoto States have unveiled a coordinated legislative agenda to reduce the number of zero-dose children\u2014those who have never received any routine vaccine.<\/p>\n

This bold commitment, termed the \u201cLagos Declaration\u201d<\/strong>, emerged from a two-day Legislative Retreat on Immunisation Equity held in Lagos from July 18\u201319. The retreat was part of the Zero Dose Learning Hub (ZDLH)<\/strong> initiative and themed \u201cLegislative Partnerships for Reaching Zero-Dose Children in Nigeria.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Hon. Amos Magaji, Chairman of the House Committee on Health Care Services, described the declaration as a crucial step towards closing immunisation gaps and advancing health equity for vulnerable children across the country.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe 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,\u201d Magaji stated.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The retreat brought together lawmakers from the National and State Assemblies alongside primary health care leaders, creating a collaborative platform for developing evidence-driven strategies. Key challenges identified during the sessions included:<\/p>\n

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  • \n

    Absence of routine immunisation budget lines<\/strong> in several state budgets, threatening the sustainability of vaccination programmes.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  • \n

    Low vaccine uptake<\/strong>, driven by socio-cultural barriers, remote geography, and conflict-related access issues.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  • \n

    Governance gaps<\/strong>, such as the absence of functioning boards within some State Primary Health Care Development Agencies, limiting oversight and coordination.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    These challenges, the lawmakers noted, contribute to Nigeria\u2019s ranking among the top five countries globally with the highest number of zero-dose children.<\/p>\n

    The Lagos Declaration concluded with a communique outlining firm legislative commitments, including:<\/p>\n

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    • \n

      A national convergence of Health Committee Chairmen<\/strong> from all 36 states, scheduled for Q4 2025.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

    • \n

      Advocacy for dedicated immunisation budget lines<\/strong> in the 2026 state budgets to ensure sustainable vaccine financing.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

    • \n

      Oversight visits to ZDLH focus states<\/strong>, beginning with Borno, to assess funding implementation and evaluate progress under the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

    • \n

      Strengthening decentralised immunisation monitoring (DIM) surveys<\/strong>, aimed at boosting local accountability.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

    • \n

      Quarterly legislative oversight<\/strong> on fund disbursement and utilisation for primary health care and immunisation.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

    • \n

      Community-level engagement<\/strong>, including briefings for local government chairpersons and lawmakers in ZDLH-supported LGAs to foster deeper accountability.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      \n

      \u201cThis isn\u2019t just a health issue\u2014it\u2019s a national development emergency. The time for fragmented efforts is over. The legislature must lead from the front,\u201d Magaji emphasized.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

      According to the World Health Organisation (WHO)<\/strong> and UNICEF<\/strong>, over two million Nigerian children remain unvaccinated, particularly in rural, hard-to-reach, or conflict-affected areas.<\/p>\n

      The ZDLH initiative, backed by a consortium of development partners, is leveraging the IRMMA strategy<\/strong>\u2014Identify, Reach, Monitor, Measure, Advocate<\/em>\u2014to pilot and scale innovative interventions in priority states.<\/p>\n

      With the National Assembly now taking a proactive stance, attention turns to how these commitments will be translated into concrete action at both federal and state levels. For many observers, the Lagos Declaration represents a potential turning point in Nigeria\u2019s drive to leave no child behind in the quest for universal immunisation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      In a significant move to address Nigeria\u2019s persistent immunisation gaps, lawmakers from Bauchi, Borno, Kano, and Sokoto States have unveiled a coordinated legislative agenda to reduce the number of zero-dose…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6471,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[90,78],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nigeria","category-regulatory"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regtechafrica.com\/healthcare\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Injection-RSV-vaccine.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regtechafrica.com\/healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regtechafrica.com\/healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regtechafrica.com\/healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regtechafrica.com\/healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regtechafrica.com\/healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6470"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/regtechafrica.com\/healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6470\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6472,"href":"https:\/\/regtechafrica.com\/healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6470\/revisions\/6472"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regtechafrica.com\/healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regtechafrica.com\/healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regtechafrica.com\/healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regtechafrica.com\/healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}