Kwara State improves child vaccination rates and nutrition metrics
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The Kwara State Primary Health Care Development Agency reported an increase in childhood vaccination coverage and a decrease in malnutrition among children under five in Nigeria.
The agency attributed these improvements to state government investments in primary healthcare and nutrition interventions.
The 2025 to 2026 Nigeria Mini-Demographic and Health Survey showed that the proportion of children aged 12 to 23 months who received the third dose of the pentavalent vaccine rose from 34.9 per cent in 2024 to 50.4 per cent in 2025 to 2026. Additionally, the percentage of children who had received no vaccines at all dropped from 48.1 per cent to 27.3 per cent during the same period.
The survey also recorded declines in three major malnutrition indicators for children under five in the state. Stunting, which involves impaired growth from prolonged undernutrition, fell from 40.8 per cent to 35.5 per cent. Wasting, or low weight relative to height, decreased from 6.1 per cent to 3.5 per cent. The prevalence of underweight children also dropped from 24.5 per cent to 14.8 per cent.
Nusirat Elelu, the Executive Secretary of the agency, stated that these results stem from nutrition-sensitive interventions and the biannual Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Week. Despite the progress, the agency noted that 35.5 per cent of children under five still suffer from stunting and 27.3 per cent of children aged 12 to 23 months remain unvaccinated. The agency plans to continue community mobilization and growth monitoring to reach more vulnerable children.
