The delegation met directly with the board's Permanent Secretary, Dr. Ibrahim Mustafa, to evaluate the ongoing GSK-BOOST Project. This joint initiative is specifically designed to eliminate the phenomenon of "zero-dose" children—infants and toddlers who have not received a single routine vaccine dose.
Over 100,000 Unvaccinated Children Identified
The collaboration has already made significant headway in mapping the scale of the issue, uncovering thousands of vulnerable children missed by traditional health networks. Now in its fourth year, the partners are actively plotting how to expand their reach.
Ella Nwakolo, Head of Impact Partnerships for GSK, emphasized that the company's global health strategy targets regions where the disease burden is heaviest but resources are scarcest.
“At GSK we have a commitment to change the trajectory of disease, and within the Global Health Team, where I sit, we focus on changing the trajectory of diseases that impact people in low income countries,” Nwakolo said. “So we are here in Nigeria to visit the BOOST programme, which we work on in partnership with Save The Children, delivering on a commitment to ensure that no child dies from a vaccine preventable disease.”
Reflecting on the milestone of mapping 100,000 zero-dose children, Nwakolo expressed a strong desire to scale the project further rather than slow down.
“We are very much committed to building on the success. We are in the fourth year of the programme and exploring opportunities to continue working in partnership with Save the Children and Lagos State,” she noted, appealing directly to local families. “We have fantastic medicines and vaccines and a lot of tools to prevent diseases and to make sure children do not die unnecessarily. My message is, if you have young children, get them vaccinated. I’m a mother of an 18-month-old, and I have been committed to making sure children are vaccinated on time and on schedule, so that they do not fall ill. I ask all parents to do the same.”
Megacity Pressures Straining Routine Health Systems
The logistical reality of managing public health in Africa’s largest megacity presents severe bottlenecks. Constant migration from other states and an exploding birth rate mean the healthcare infrastructure is permanently racing to keep up.
Dr. Ibrahim Mustafa welcomed the partnership, acknowledging that the state's sheer density creates a unique playground for dangerous outbreaks if immunization gaps are left unplugged.
“The goal of vaccination is to build herd immunity. When too many children remain unimmunised, it creates vulnerabilities that could lead to outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases. Partnerships and collaborations such as this are very important,” Mustafa explained.
Because Lagos attracts residents from every ethnic group and socioeconomic background across the West African sub-region, Mustafa pointed out that the state functions as a "mini Nigeria." Consequently, fixing the immunization gaps here creates a positive domino effect that stabilizes health security across the entire federation.
A Shared Long-Term Commitment to Health Infrastructure
GSK officials confirmed that this initiative isn't a short-term charity drive, but rather an ongoing investment in local health architecture. The company's corporate philosophy for low- and middle-income nations revolves around three pillars: aggressive research and development for new treatments, lowering economic barriers to access these products, and fortifying the local healthcare systems that deliver them.
The relationship between GSK and Save the Children spans nearly 30 years, and negotiations are currently underway to lock in the next phase of their global alliance. Representatives noted that seeing the ground-level intersections of rapid urban migration and health delivery in Lagos has provided invaluable insights for tailoring their upcoming intervention strategies.