Hauwa never imagined she would have to leave home. But when insurgents raided her village in Baga, Borno state yet again, she gathered her children and fled, crossing the waters to Ngouboua, Chad.
In the displacement camp where she now lives, one of the things that trouble her is her children’s health. “I remember vaccinating my sons back in Nigeria,” she says, adjusting the wrapper around her youngest. “But when we got here, I didn’t know where to begin. I don’t have their vaccination cards with me.”
Hauwa’s story is one of thousands across the Lake Chad Basin countries; Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon. Although the number of polio virus detections recorded in these countries has experienced a decline, the communities in Lake Chad Basin remains a critical polio hotspot in the AFRO region.
Insecurity and border closures have left many settlements inaccessible, making it difficult for health workers to reach children with life-saving vaccines. In 2022 alone, over 1,000 cases of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) were detected across Africa, with 234 cases (22%) reported in the Lake Chad Basin (LCB) countries; Nigeria, Chad, Niger, and Cameroon. By 2024, the proportion of detections in LCB countries has grown to 39% of Africa’s polio burden, highlighting an alarming trend. Weak cross-border coordination further complicates efforts, as synchronized vaccination campaigns remain rare. Even when vaccines are available, many children in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps and informal settlements remain undocumented, making follow-ups nearly impossible.
“Last year, I vaccinated a little boy named Abubakar here,” Amina, a health worker in Geidam, Yobe State, recalls.. “Two weeks later, his nomadic family crossed into Niger. No one knows where they are and there’s no way to follow up.”
In addition to irregular migration, misinformation fuels vaccine hesitancy, with myths about infertility and illness discouraging parents from immunizing their children. At the same time, a severe shortage of health workers and functional facilities in border areas means countless children are left without routine immunization, widening the gap in protection against polio..
Musa, a public health officer in Borno, explains: “Most children were never registered to begin with. No paper records whatsoever which means they have never received a single dose of vaccine.”
Recognizing the urgency, WHO AFRO, with support from SCIDaR and other partners launched a coordinated cross-border immunization effort in November 2024. The goal is clear: to ensure every child in the lake Chad Basin region is vaccinated from Polio, regardless of where they live or how they move.
These key actions are underway:
- Tracking Children Across Borders: Efforts are underway to establish real-time data-sharing mechanisms between border countries, to prevent children from falling through the tracks.
- Community-Led Mapping: Health teams will work with Local leaders (Mai Ungwas and Bulamas) to linelist all congregation points in the border wards, making sure every settlement is acknowledged, registered and served.
- Mothers Leading the Charge: Over 150 women will be trained as ‘Mothers for Immunization’ advocates, using their influence to combat vaccine hesitancy and encourage uptake within their communities.
- Border Health Screening; Volunteer Health Workers (VHWs) will be trained and deployed to screen children under 15 for polio symptoms at crossing points, ensuring early detection and timely intervention in high-risk communities.
While the initiative is still in its early stages, the momentum is undeniable. The hope is that soon, no child; whether in an IDP camp, a fishing village, or a nomadic settlement will miss their chance at protection against Polio.
“I just want to do what’s right for my children,” Hauwa says. “If I can trust that the vaccines are safe, then maybe, just maybe, we can finally start over.”
With synchronized efforts and empowered local voices, we are ensuring that no child is left behind in the fight against polio.
