19 May 2009
Husaini Sahabi, is responsible for ensuring efficient vaccine procurement, storage and distribution across Kebbi state.
In 2003, Mr Sahabi had a hard time keeping the vaccines under his care in a usable state, as storage facilities were dilapidated, most refrigerators were out of order, and transport was unreliable. The lack of resources made it impossible to vaccinate many children.
As a result, many vulnerable children died before age 5 from diseases like measles. Routine immunisation coverage in Kebbi state remained far below the national average at 1.7%, fewer than two out of every 100 children received vaccinations.
The European Commission, which manages the EU's external aid programme, has helped to turn this around.
Now, routine immunisation coverage is above 80% for children in Kebbi state, more than 6,000 health workers have been trained in immunisation care, and there has been a 97% increase in health facilities conducting and reporting routine immunisation thanks to the EU-Partnership to Reinforce Immunisation Efficiency (PRIME) project.
Mr Sahabi, himself having undergone training through Commission assistance, had this to say about the project, “I thank the EU-PRIME project; the state project team has been very supportive by providing equipment for immunisation and funding for distribution of vaccines".
Key facts:
- The European Commission spends 6 per cent of its €114 billion budget on development assistance for poorer countries outside Europe.
- The UK contributes 17 per cent of the European Commission’s budget. Of our 2006/7 contribution, £964 million went towards international development.
- DFID is the UK department responsible for working with other EU member states and the European Commission to make sure our contribution is well used in the fight against world poverty.
- The Commission provided €38.2 million for EU-PRIME in Kebbi and five other focal states between 2002 and 2007.
- Between 2003 and 2008, DFID has provided more than £70 million to the health sector, through a number of projects and programmes.
- Other examples of working through the European Commission: women's literacy in Pakistan, water and sanitation in Uganda and improving primary education in Bangladesh.
