The Nigerian Government has initiated discussions with the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation, Gavi, towards obtaining emergency supplies of the oral cholera vaccine (OCV) in the wake of the cholera outbreak in the country.
The Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, NCDC, Jide Idris, who disclosed this in Abuja, said that the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Ali Pate, was leading the discussions with Gavi.
According to Idris, “Gavi, a global health partnership, plays a pivotal role in improving access to vaccines in low-income countries. Through these negotiations, Nigeria aims to secure an emergency supply of cholera vaccines to curb the outbreak.
“Cholera vaccines are not stocked in our public facilities, though they are available in limited quantities in the private sector. But vaccines alone are not the only preventative measures we have at the moment; we must also ensure environmental cleanliness and proper hand hygiene.”
Idris further explained that there is a surge in global demand for cholera vaccines leading to severe shortage, even though he noted that the limited supply has strained efforts to control outbreaks in endemic regions, including Nigeria.
Nigeria utilises three World Health Organization, WHO, pre-qualified oral cholera vaccines, Dukoral, Shanchol, and Euvichol-Plus.
