– Abubakar Abdulkareem
Despite significant progress in Nigeria’s polio eradication efforts, persistent gaps in immunization coverage continue to enable the circulation of variant poliovirus (cVPV). Evidence from campaign evaluations and Lot Quality Assurance Sampling (LQAS) shows that a proportion of Local Government Areas still fail to meet required coverage thresholds, with missed households, absent children, and non-compliance identified as key drivers of low performance.
These operational and data-related gaps, combined with challenges reaching mobile and hard-to-access populations, continue to leave pockets of unvaccinated children, particularly in high-risk northern states. However, in March 2026, a quiet but powerful shift began in Jigawa State.
Across communities, a new group of dedicated eHealth Africa field consultants deployed by the Disease Prevention, and Monitoring Team under the Geo-Tracking System (GTS) Project took their positions. Their mission is simple, yet urgent: to ensure that no child is missed in the ongoing fight against the circulating variant poliovirus (cVPV). This deployment comes at a critical moment. While progress has been made, the virus continues to find gaps, missed households, hard-to-reach settlements, and underserved communities. Closing these gaps requires more than plans; it requires presence, consistency, and trust on the ground.
The deployment and strategic positioning of the eHA field team,Local Government Consultants, represents a deliberate step toward strengthening public health interventions across all thematic areas in Jigawa states, positioning eHA as strategic partner. By ensuring their continuous presence within communities, this approach reinforces real-time support, deeper engagement, and sustained impact at the last mile for the last child. Before stepping into the field, the consultants gathered for an intensive orientation from 25th to 26th March 2026. Over two days, they didn’t just learn systems, they aligned around purpose. Through hands-on sessions on GTS tracking, microplan digitization (eHA Planfled), MLOS validation, and tools like Vaccine Buddy, they built the skills needed to translate strategy into action.
But beyond the tools, the conversations were grounded in real challenges from the field. Insights from recent national training highlighted persistent issues including teams unfamiliar with assigned areas, missed settlements, gaps in supervision, and inconsistencies in data reporting. These are not just technical gaps; they are the spaces where children are left unreached.Now, with a permanent presence in Jigawa, these consultants are helping to change that story.
Day by day, the eHA local government consultants will walk alongside vaccination teams, supporting microplan implementation, strengthening accountability, and ensuring that data reflects reality. They will help teams see what was previously missed, connect fragmented efforts, and respond quickly when gaps appear. Their work brings visibility to the last mile for the last child, where success is defined by every child reached.
This is what change looks like: not a single moment, but a series of deliberate actions, showing up, paying attention, and improving continuously.
Through this deployment, eHealth Africa is reinforcing a simple belief: that strong systems, when combined with committed people on the ground, can transform outcomes. And in Jigawa state, that transformation is already underway, one settlement, one household, one child at a time.
