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An emerging report has confirmed that over 230,000 vaccines have been administered to children in southern Nigeria to combat polio.
This development is on the heels of the World Health Organisation's (WHO) report that Africa has recorded 72 cases of cVDPV, of which 68 are cVDPV2 and four are cVDPV1. Of the 72 cases in 2024, 30 (42%) have occurred in Nigeria alone.
In 2023, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, in partnership with the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), launched the "Southern Religious & Traditional Leaders Engagement (SoRTLE) for PHC Delivery" initiative in 2023 to tackle circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVPV2) and enhance primary healthcare (PHC) uptake in Southern Nigeria.
The project, which ran from December 2022 to December 2023 and was implemented by Sydani Group, aimed to harness the influence of traditional and religious leaders across 17 southern states to drive vaccination efforts and improve PHC services.
A landscape assessment by Sydani Group in January 2023 mapped the operations of local leaders, leading to the formation of zonal, state, and local committees to spearhead PHC promotion.
One of the most notable successes of the SoRTLE initiative was the Lagos OBR campaign in July 2023. This campaign, a part of SoRTLE's comprehensive efforts, vaccinated 86 children at a church that had previously denied access to vaccinators.
In August 2023, a National Religious Leaders Review Meeting in Abuja saw religious leaders pledge to support vaccination efforts, including establishing permanent vaccination posts at religious centres and addressing immunisation myths.
The September and November 2023 National Immunisation Plus Days (NIPDs) saw substantial engagement from traditional and religious leaders, contributing to vaccinating over 230,000 children.
Additionally, more than 70% of non-compliance cases were resolved with the help of community leaders.
In August 2023, a National Religious Leaders Review Meeting in Abuja saw religious leaders pledge to support vaccination efforts, including establishing permanent vaccination posts at religious centres and addressing immunisation myths.
The National Traditional Rulers Summit, initially scheduled for August 30, 2023, has been postponed to 2024 further to emphasise the role of traditional leaders in healthcare delivery.