The figure accounts for about six percent of 20 million children globally who are yet to be vaccinated.
Mrs. Folashade Adebayo, UNICEF’s Communication Officer, made the disclosure in Yola on Wednesday, at an ongoing ‘Media Dialogue On Routine Immunisation, Post Polio Certification, and COVID-19 Vaccination’.
The meeting was organised by The Child Rights Information Bureau (CRIB) of the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture in collaboration with the UNICEF.
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Adebayo said that the World Health Organisation (WHO) had also disclosed that Nigeria is the country with the highest number of under-five deaths in the world.
She said that this position really called for serious attention on the part of the parents to take the issue of immunisation of their children seriously at this point time.
‘Improving survival and well-being of our children matters most here, the direct or underlying cause of 45 percent of all deaths of under-five children is immunisation.
‘Nigeria has the second-highest burden of stunted children in the world, 2.7 million other children are wasted.
‘Also the COVID-19 pandemic and measures to contain it are worsening,’ she said.
She, however, called for a change in the narrative on the part of the parents, adding that, governments and other relevant agencies must also play their key role to achieve better results.
AFRICA DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK
