The Federal Government says it requires $1 billion over the next five years to sustain progress made in immunisation coverage.

The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) Executive Director Muyi Aina said this during the MultiStakeholders Technical Workshop on Optimising a Sustainable Immunisation Financing Model in Abuja yesterday.

Aina expressed concern that only 21 per cent of the vaccine budget allocated for 2024 has been released, warning that insufficient funding could jeopardise hard-won gains.

He said: “We need $1 billion over the next five years to secure vaccines for our population. “But with less than a quarter of this year’s budget released, we are at risk of reversing hardwon gains.”