In vaccine-hesitant north Nigeria, cash incentives are helping drive up immunisation rates

It’s 8am on Monday, August 26, at the Pantami Primary Healthcare Centre in Pantami, a suburb in northeast Nigeria’s Gombe State. The children’s vaccination hall is filled with a vibrant array of hijab colors – green, brown, white, and more, representing a mix of young and older mothers who brought their babies and toddlers for vaccination.

Among them is 37-year-old Ashaitu Adamu, a mother of three. Inside the hall, a healthcare worker dressed in gray scrubs calls a number, and Ashaitu steps forward with her 15-month-old toddler, Fatima. The worker collects Fatima’s vaccination card, verifies it against the centre’s records, and directs Ashaitu to another hall section.

There, Fatima receives her final dose of the MCV vaccine, which helps prevent the virus that causes measles in children. The World Health Organization describes measles as an airborne disease that is “highly contagious”.

But this last dose, which is also the last of the various vaccines she had been scheduled to take, means more than just disease prevention; it is also a hunger reliever for Ashaitu’s family. The dose makes Ashaitu eligible for N5,000 ($3) livelihood support.

“My husband has not received his salary, and I left the house after morning prayers. My husband will come back to see food...

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