Healthcare professionals' views on access to vaccines in Nigeria: A cross sectional study

Vaccines are important public health interventions that are critical in preventing the spread of infectious diseases. Sustainable access to these products is therefore critical in articulating contextual policies and strategies. This study aimed at exploring the views of healthcare professionals regarding perceived challenges and strategies that influence access to vaccines in Nigeria. A cross sectional study was undertaken amongst healthcare practitioners that attended a conference targeted at improving access to vaccines. A questionnaire was used for data collection, and analysis was undertaken using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 25. Questionnaires were administered to a total of 604 participants, response rate was 87.1%, with male participants (54.4%) being slightly better represented than females (45.6%). A tenth of the participants (10.6%) were educated up to doctorate degree level, and a considerable proportion of the participants (43.6%) worked in the government sector. Slightly above three quarters (78.3%) of the participants were of the view that lack of local production capacity was an obstacle preventing access to vaccines, whilst above two thirds of the respondents (70.5%) were of the opinion that the current funding for research and development towards vaccines was sub-optimal. A total of 70.1% of the sample disagreed that the current policy environment was favourable to development of vaccines, whilst more than half of the participants (56%) perceived a lack of support by philanthropists and relevant foundations, for vaccines development in Nigeria. A majority of the participants (73.7%) indicated that sustainable access to vaccines in Nigeria could be achieved by harnessing local research capacity. This study identified critical challenges limiting access to vaccines in Nigeria and can consequently underpin relevant policy and practice reforms that aim to improve access to this public health tool.