Immunisation: Enugu Targets “Missing Population”

Enugu State will use the second round of the 2025 Optimal Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (OMNCH) Week to bridge the gap in the state maternal, newborn and child health sector.

The Executive Secretary of the Enugu State Primary Health Care Development Agency (ESPHCDA), Dr Ifeyinwa Ani-Osheku, stated this in Enugu ahead of the exercise. She said the intervention was targeted at reaching women and children “who are still missing out on essential health services despite the gains recorded under the state’s ongoing health sector reforms”.

She said the OMNCH Week was designed to address gaps in routine immunization, antenatal care attendance, micronutrient supplementation and early childhood disease prevention, particularly in underserved and vulnerable communities across the state.

She attributed the gaps to migration, insecurity-induced displacement and socio-economic barriers which “create pockets of missed opportunities, making the intervention timely and critical”.

In her words, “This second round is about preventing avoidable maternal and child deaths, strengthening herd immunity and consolidating the progress Enugu State has made in primary healthcare delivery.”

She said Enugu State was delivering a comprehensive package of services during the OMNCH Week, including routine and catch-up immunization, vitamin A supplementation, deworming, antenatal care services, nutrition screening, health education and referral services.

Special strategies were deployed to ensure that hard-to-reach populations were not excluded, she said, adding that the state mobilized outreach teams, extended service hours, engaged community health volunteers and worked closely with ward development committees, with particular focus on riverine, rural and peri-urban settlements.

She commended the agency’s collaborators, noting that local governments “provide grass-roots coordination and logistics; traditional rulers and community leaders drive community mobilization and trust, while health workers form the backbone of service delivery, supported through supervision and capacity-building”.

She said development partners had complemented government efforts with technical support, commodities and monitoring.

She noted an improvement in antenatal care uptake, with more pregnant women accessing early and regular care, while nutrition screening helped identify at-risk children for timely intervention.

According to her, “These outcomes translate to improved child survival prospects and reduced maternal health risks, in line with Enugu State’s health performance targets.”

She said early community engagement, data-driven micro-planning and integration of OMNCH services with other primary healthcare interventions proved critical to success, and assured that “these insights would shape future maternal and child health programmes, strengthen routine service delivery and enhance health data systems”.

The executive secretary assured that the Enugu State government would sustain inclusive, resilient and impactful maternal and child health interventions, adding that “no woman or child will be left behind in the state’s health agenda”.