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The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has launched a targeted campaign to vaccinate children against polio in northeast Nigeria.

The campaign, which will see millions of children vaccinated, is part of the child-centred events scheduled to commemorate the 2025 World Immunisation Week.

Launched on the heels of the production of its Zero Dose Song last year, the catch-up campaign by UNICEF aims to vaccinate children under five years old who missed the polio vaccine during the routine immunisation schedule instituted by the government.

Although Nigeria has been previously declared polio-free by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the existence of other polio strains equally paralysing children has remained a source of concern for stakeholders.

In a statement jointly issued by UNICEF, WHO and Gavi, the resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases like polio, measles and diphtheria threatens the survival of children across the world.

According to UNICEF, at least 24million childhood paralysis cases have been prevented by the oral polio vaccines since 1988. 

The UNICEF Executive Director, Catherine Russell, therefore warned that unless political commitment and an increase in domestic funding are improved across countries, the global funding cut could affect the resolve to reach millions of children with the polio vaccine.

“The global funding crisis is severely limiting our ability to vaccinate over 15 million vulnerable children in fragile and conflict-affected countries against measles,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.

“Immunisation services, disease surveillance, and the outbreak response in nearly 50 countries are already being disrupted—with setbacks at a similar level to what we saw during COVID-19. We cannot afford to lose ground in the fight against preventable diseases.”

Also adding his voice, the WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said, “Vaccines have saved more than 150 million lives over the past five decades. Funding cuts to global health have put these hard-won gains in jeopardy. 

Outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases are increasing around the world, putting lives at risk and exposing countries to increased costs in treating diseases and responding to outbreaks. Countries with limited resources must invest in the highest-impact interventions – and that includes vaccines.”