World Immunization Week: SARMAAN Backs a New Era of Integrated Child Survival in Nigeria

As the world marks World Immunization Week, the global message is clear. Vaccines work, and they work for every generation. From birth through early childhood, immunisation has quietly saved millions of lives worldwide and remains one of the most cost‑effective public‑health tools we have.

In Nigeria too, vaccines have changed the story of childhood; far fewer children are being lost to diseases that once routinely cut lives short.

What this moment also reminds us is that while vaccines are the backbone of child survival, they are not the only layer of protection children need. Across the country, especially in high‑risk communities, vaccines, good nutrition, prompt treatment for childhood illnesses, clean water, and targeted programmes like SARMAAN all work side by side to give every child a fair chance to reach their fifth birthday and beyond. Child survival is not a single intervention but a woven mat, where each strand strengthens the others.

SARMAAN is one of the most important of these strands. It is an initiative that gives carefully measured doses of a child‑safe antibiotic (azithromycin) to young children in high‑mortality communities, through periodic Mass Drug Administration (MDA) campaigns.

The SARMAAN project reached 15.76 million unique children aged one to 59 months across 10 northern states in Nigeria with over 26 million doses of azithromycin between 2024 and 2026, delivering targeted interventions aimed at reducing preventable childhood illnesses and deaths.

The project stated that in the first quarter of 2026 alone, 7,215,455 children were reached through Mass Drug Administration across Kano, Bauchi, Jigawa and Kaduna states. These numbers represent children whose lives were saved by this child survival strategy. The result is proof that when we deliberately layer interventions and use trusted networks, we can reach more children, more efficiently, and more often.

Seen in this light, SARMAAN sits alongside immunisation as part of a stronger, more complete shield for Nigerian children, helping to reduce deaths from infections during the most vulnerable early years of life, particularly in places where access to timely treatment is weak.

As the world marks Immunization Week, it important to count these gains even as we advocate for stronger support and financing of child survival programmes. Nigeria’s under‑five mortality rate remains among the highest in the world, with the poorest children and their families still carrying the greatest risk.
The success of SARMAAN shows that, even within these constraints, it is possible to push further, if we are willing to think and act about child survival in an integrated way.
This World Immunization Week, the call to action is therefore hopeful. We are asking Nigeria to use every proven tool, in a coordinated way, to ensure that more children live, grow, learn and thrive. That is the promise of an integrated child‑survival approach, and SARMAAN is one clear starting point to make it real.