Nigeria is among the first countries to develop a comprehensive vaccine-related event (VRE) response plan, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US CDC) said.
US CDC Global Immunization Safety Team Leader Dr Janet Gidudu made this known on Thursday at the official launch of Nigeria’s Vaccine Event Response Plan and AEFI Surveillance Field Guide held in Abuja, describing the development of the plan as an important step towards strengthening vaccine safety and public confidence in immunization.
He said Nigeria’s experience would serve as an example for other countries, particularly in Africa, as efforts expand to establish systems capable of identifying, investigating and responding to vaccine-related events.
“You will hear more about this in other countries, so Nigeria is among the first that are developing these plans. Therefore, we will look at their example as a good example,” Gidudu said.
The US CDC official emphasized that vaccine safety cannot be achieved by a single agency or group, and urged stakeholders to work together to ensure vaccines remain safe and public confidence in immunization is protected.
“You cannot ensure the safety of vaccines alone. You cannot. As the people who gave the messages today have heard say,” he said.
Gidudu, who said she was originally from Uganda and had lived in the United States for more than 20 years, said African countries needed to generate their own data on vaccine safety rather than relying predominantly on evidence from high-income countries.
“Previously, much of the information and data we have been using to make decisions about vaccine safety was based on higher-income countries. The data came from the United States, Europe and other higher-income countries, but now we have to look at ourselves here in Africa,” he said.
According to her, strengthening vaccine safety systems has become more important as African countries increasingly move towards local vaccine manufacturing.
“We must get safe vaccines, safe products for our children, especially, and for everyone else. We must generate our own information, have our own systems, take care of our own and address any event plans related to vaccines,” Gidudu said.
He highlighted the importance of transparency and effective communication to maintain public trust, particularly when adverse events or other concerns arise after vaccination.
“Whatever we do, from when a vaccine is developed to when it is given to someone, everyone needs to know that it is safe, and especially the mother who brings her child to the clinic to know that this vaccine is safe,” he said.
“And it’s only safe when we do the right science, when we communicate the right science, and of course if there are any problems with the vaccine, we have to be transparent and tell the story, tell the right story.”
Gidudu said the US CDC had supported Nigeria’s vaccine safety efforts for several years, including during the rollout of the new oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) and the COVID-19 vaccination response.
He revealed that work on Nigeria’s VRE Response Plan began about two years ago and was preceded by a baseline assessment to identify gaps and inform the development of the framework.
“This plan belongs to you as a country. It is going to be a living document. Let us learn from it, let us improve this plan and share our lessons learned with other countries so that they can do a good job in Africa and the rest of the world,” he said.
He urged development partners, including UNICEF and Gavi, to support Nigeria in implementing the plan, warning against allowing it to remain as a document on shelves.
“Please support Nigeria to implement its plans. I am launching that promotion there because I know that when you take these messages to your respective agencies, they will reach into their pockets. Go UNICEF, go Gavi, go everyone, let’s work to support the country,” Gidudu said.
“Let this plan be updated. Don’t let it sit on your shelves. I don’t like work that doesn’t touch, that doesn’t translate into viable work.”
The US CDC official explained that the new approach was designed to move away from separate response plans for individual vaccines toward an antigen-agnostic framework that could adapt to any vaccine-related event.
“We want plans that can work with all vaccines, because we don’t know where the next outbreak could be,” he said, adding that the framework could be used during measles, polio and routine immunization campaigns, as well as in future vaccination programs.
Earlier, the Executive Director and CEO of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Muyi Aina, represented by the Director of Disease Control, Dr. Garba Ahmed Rufai, said the launch represented a major milestone for Nigeria’s immunization programme.
He said the increasing introduction of new vaccines and large-scale vaccination campaigns require the country to strengthen its capacity to anticipate, detect, evaluate, manage and communicate vaccine-related events.
“Vaccines remain one of the most effective public health interventions we have. They save lives, prevent disability and protect communities from diseases that previously caused enormous suffering,” Aina said.
However, he noted that the success of vaccination programs depended not only on the ability to administer vaccines but also on maintaining public confidence.
According to him, concerns related to vaccines can spread quickly, sometimes faster than health authorities can establish the facts, making preparation essential.
“The response, therefore, cannot be improvised after an event has occurred. We must be prepared before it happens. This is the fundamental purpose of the Response Plan for Vaccine-Related Events,” he said.
Aina said the plan provides a coordinated framework for surveillance, research, clinical management, causality assessment, risk communication and community engagement.
He stressed that the framework was not solely a NPHCDA document, and said that effective management of vaccine-related events required collaboration between NPHCDA, NAFDAC, NCDC, Federal Ministry of Health and Welfare, states, local governments, health workers, doctors, surveillance officials, communication teams, communities and development partners.
“When an event occurs, Nigerians should see a coordinated public health system responding with speed, competence, transparency and empathy,” he said.
Aina announced that NPHCDA, in collaboration with partners, would prioritize guidance and capacity building for stakeholders at national and sub-national levels to ensure implementation across all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
He called on state governments, state primary health care development agencies and boards, program managers, surveillance officers, health workers and partners to take ownership of the framework and operationalize it at relevant levels.
“This is Nigeria’s plan, and its implementation must be national responsibility and direction and sustainably integrated into our health system,” Aina said.
Also speaking, Dr Patrick Nguku, AFENET Regional Coordinator and National Leader of Nigeria, said the organization worked closely with NPHCDA, NCDC, NAFDAC, the Federal Ministry of Health and other government partners to conduct the baseline assessment, identify gaps and develop and validate the plan.
He described the framework as comprehensive, encompassing preparedness, protection, investigation, response, communication, recovery, assessment and continuing education.
“This framework really provides a coordinated framework for preparedness, protection, investigation, response, communication, recovery, assessment and continuing education. It’s really comprehensive,” Nguku said.
He said AFENET had also supported activities including AEFI technical working committees, national data validation and harmonization, causality assessments, supportive supervision and vaccine safety risk communication.
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Nguku urged stakeholders to ensure that the framework moved from a national document to a practical tool commonly used for vaccine safety preparedness and response.
“AFENET remains committed to supporting the Government of Nigeria to institutionalize this response plan, strengthen AEFI surveillance and response, and build sustainable capacity and promote evidence-based vaccine safety practices at all levels,” he said.
Representing the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Asman Abubakar commended NPHCDA and AFENET for developing the AEFI Surveillance Plan and Field Guide.
He said NAFDAC, as the agency responsible for safety monitoring, would continue to collaborate with NPHCDA, AFENET and other partners to ensure that vaccines remain safe for public use.
“Having this document is very important. And NAFDAC being the agency responsible for safety monitoring, this is very commendable. We will continue to collaborate with NPHCDA, AFENET and also other partners to ensure that the vaccines remain safe for public use,” Abubakar said.
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