The Federal Government has disclosed that it spends about 150 million dollars annually on vaccine procurement as part of efforts to strengthen public health and expand malaria immunisation across more states.
Dr Muyi Aina Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency made this known during the first quarterly media briefing for 2026 held in Abuja. He explained that funding for vaccines comes from government allocations and support from development partners including Gavi and the Vaccine Alliance, though donor contributions are gradually declining.
According to Aina countries are now expected to increase domestic funding to sustain immunisation programmes. He noted that vaccine financing goes beyond procurement to include logistics such as syringes waste management systems incinerators and cold chain equipment as well as operational costs for nationwide delivery.
On malaria control he revealed that the vaccine rollout has expanded from pilot states Bayelsa and Kebbi to Bauchi and Ondo following readiness assessments. He said the four dose schedule of the malaria vaccine poses a challenge as ensuring full compliance among children remains difficult.
Vaccination figures show significant progress with Bayelsa recording about 68000 doses Kebbi 153000 Bauchi 66000 and Ondo over 7000 doses administered. In total nearly 1.3 million children have received at least one dose across the four states.
Aina emphasised that vaccines remain one of the safest and most cost effective medical interventions available. He added that despite occasional side effects vaccines undergo strict testing and provide far greater benefits in preventing diseases such as measles.
He also highlighted additional achievements including free maternal services for over 48000 women and obstetric fistula repairs for nearly 2500 beneficiaries nationwide.
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