Kwara's child vaccination rate jumps from 35% to 50%
Fewer children have had no vaccines at all, and stunting, wasting and underweight have all fallen, a federal survey shows.
Ilorin — The share of children in Nigeria's Kwara State who have received all three doses of the pentavalent vaccine rose from 34.9% in 2024 to 50.4% in 2025–2026, according to a new survey by the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.
Nusirat Elelu, executive secretary of the Kwara State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, said the proportion of children aged 12 to 23 months who had received no vaccines at all fell from 48.1% to 27.3% over the same period.
The pentavalent vaccine, given at six, ten and 14 weeks, protects against five serious diseases, including diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough.
Nutrition gains too
- Stunting: down from 40.8% to 35.5%.
- Wasting: down from 6.1% to 3.5%.
- Underweight: down from 24.5% to 14.8%.
Elelu called it one of the biggest improvements in the state's nutrition figures in recent years. She credited investment in primary health care, nutrition programmes and the twice-yearly Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Week, and urged parents to keep taking children to their nearest clinic for free routine vaccination.
Source: Premium Times / NAN, 28 October 2026.
