Nigeria’s exit from the list of polio-endemic countries is a big achievement for which the government, our health workers and support partners all over the world deserve commendation. The delisting of the country by the World Health Organisation (WHO) is a just reward for all the efforts put by all stakeholders into the battle against polio in the country. We congratulate Nigeria on this welcome development and advise that we sustain the tempo of the campaign against the debilitating disease.
Until recently, Nigeria was one of the three countries formally identified as polio-endemic in the world. The country shared this inglorious status with Pakistan and Afghanistan, which are now the only two countries still battling the disease.
Records from WHO show that as at 2012, Nigeria accounted for more than half of all polio cases in the world. But, the country has not experienced any incidence of the infection for over one year now, which resulted in the delisting.
With the interruption of the transmission of wild poliovirus in Nigeria, WHO has said that the country is closer to being certified polio- free. We will, however, have to wait for another two years before the country can be fully certified polio-free by the global health agency. All the same, there is hope that we will obtain the certification if we sustain all the initiatives that made this delisting possible. For reaching this milestone in our polio eradication effort, we recognise and praise the efforts of the Federal Ministry of Health and its state and local government counterparts. We urge them to continue to work with all our development partners and individuals who have been contributing towards this worthy cause.
We also applaud the painstaking efforts of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), civil society groups, religious leaders and thousands of dedicated health workers across the country who repeatedly immunised over 45 million children under the age of five years to ensure that no child in the country will suffer from the disease again.
We particularly give kudos to Rotary International, the WHO, the United States Centre for Disease Control (CDC), the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Dangote Foundation, for contributing substantially to the polio eradication effort.
While it is good to celebrate this historic achievement, it should not lead to complacency on the part of our health authorities because the battle against the infection is not yet over. We should continue to improve on our current WHO rating until our goal is achieved.
Rather than rest on our oars, we should redouble our effort to ensure that polio does not resurface in the country. Now that we have kicked out polio from the country, the tempo of our polio immunisation activities should be increased, especially in crisis areas.
The present situation calls for more timely and invigorated immunisation of all children under five years of age, including those coming into the country. This is the time to intensify mop up as well as routine polio immunizations in the country. Our goal now is to work hard to ensure that the country is fully certified polio-free in the next two years.
Therefore, no stone should be left unturned to ensure that we eventually achieve the objective. The federal, state and local governments should work in concert to make Nigeria fully polio-free. There should be no reason to fail in this critical assignment. We have both the human and material resources we require to make this happen.
For Nigeria to be certified polio-free in 2017, it is necessary to improve domestic funding of polio immunisation. This is the time to strengthen vaccination campaigns in hard-to-reach and insecure areas.
We call on all levels of government, as well as local donors to this noble cause, to fund the project generously. They should complement the efforts of foreign donors to ensure that polio does not stage a comeback in the country.
To ensure that polio does not resurge in Africa, we commend Nigeria’s good example to the continent. All African countries should emulate Nigeria and increase surveillance and immunisation activities to minimise the risk of re-infection.
Let all hands be on deck to ensure that we achieve the goal of full certification as a polio-free country in the next two years.
Source: Sun News
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