Posted on: Thu 22-08-2019

PRESS STATEMENT

Being an address at the World Press Conference to mark Nigeria's achievement of 3 years without a case of Wild Polio Virus (WPV), by Dr. Faisal Shuaib Executive Director/CEO of National Primary Health Care Development Agency on Wednesday 21^st August 2019.

PROTOCOLS

Distinguished Gentlemen of the Press

Ladies and Gentlemen

Today, 21^st August 2019, Nigeria makes history, having achieved three years without a case of Wild Polio Virus (WPV). The last WPV case was isolated in a child in Borno State on 21^st August 2016.

This press conference is to mark this significant milestone, while ensuring that we do not lose sight of the huge amount of work that is left for us to do before we are certified polio-free by the relevant global organizations.

There is no doubt that three years without a case of Wild Polio Virus is a historic milestone for the Polio eradication programme in Nigeria and the global community.

This achievement would certainly not have been possible without the novel strategies adopted in the consistent fight against polio and other vaccine preventable diseases. We commend the strong domestic and global financing and the commitment of government at all levels. We appreciate the leadership and support from our traditional leaders especially the Northern Traditional Leaders Committee on PEW, donors, development and local partners. We give kudos to the efforts of all the health workers and the care givers for their patience and understanding.

Above all, we humbly and sincerely appreciate the support of His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari who has ensured that he walked his talk. We may recall that in August 2015, the President declared that 'I will leave no stone unturned to ensure that the necessary resources and commitment required of my govemment are in place and efficiently utilized to strengthen routine immunization and finish the job of polio eradication.". I must say that Mr. President has kept to his words as he has provided us with the needed resources and oversight, to achieve a WPV-free status including ensuring that His Excellency, the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osibanjo, convenes the quarterly meeting of the Presidential Task Force on Polio Eradication, to assess the performance of states.

There is no gainsaying the fact that the media has been very pivotal to our success. We sincerely appreciate the vibrant Nigerian press. Your understanding and support have been highly motivating especially for our vaccinators who are the most valuable human resource in this effort.

An occasion such as this, gives cause to look back to the years in which the polio virus reigned virtually unfettered, consigning our children to crutches and wheel chairs, if they survive at all. The road to where we are today, has been very tortuous and tragic, as some of our colleagues paid the supreme price. Others that were lucky, sustained various degree of injuries, some resulting in permanent disabilities. They are the real heroes in the fight against this disease. Their names have been written in gold, and like our National Anthem states, "The labour of our heroes past shall never be in vain".

We also recall the seeming success between 2014 -2016 in the fight against the Wild Polio Virus that was truncated by the resurgence of the Wild Polio Virus in August 2016. The Federal Government of Nigeria through the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) and development partners took the setback in their strides and mounted a globally acclaimed rapid and aggressive outbreak response. Mr President immediately released N9.8billion and charged the programme to look for more viruses and contain the outbreak within the shortest possible time. The result is what we are marking here today - 3 years of being WP/-free! The NPHCDA and Partners responded swiftly, increasing the sensitivity of the surveillance system and deploying innovative strategies to reach children, especially in the inaccessible areas of Borno, 'lobe and Adamawa states. These include vaccinating children through firewalling, international border vaccination, local transit vaccination, Nomadic, hospital, market and vaccinations at camps for Internal Displaced Persons (IDP).

Furthermore, in our determination to rapidly improve routine immunization in the country, following the 2016 MICs/NICS which revealed a national Pentavalent 3 coverage of 33%, we established the National Emergency Routine Immunization Coordination Centre (NERICC) to strengthen Routine Immunization (RI). As you are aware, the recent National Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) indicates that the Pentavalent 3 has now increased to 50%. Following this achievement of 3 years without the Wild Polio Virus, Nigeria has commenced the process of documentation towards the final certification by the Africa Regional Certification Commission (ARCC).

This process involves a detailed assemblage and review of surveillance, Routine Immunization (RI) and Supplemental Immunization Activities (SIAs) Data by the National Certification Committee before submission of the final documentation to ARCC in March, 2020. If ARCC is satisfied with the country's documentation, Nigeria will be certified Wild Polio Virus free. Distinguished members of the fourth estate of the realm, it is pertinent to state that the success we have achieved is still very fragile as this WPV-free status would have to be maintained through a robust and sensitive surveillance system for Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AM) and strong RI to prevent possible reoccurrence of the Wild Polio Virus (WPV) which may cause the ARCC to deny us the certification. Consequently, it is imperative that all stakeholders continue to support the Polio programme, through technical, financial support and political oversight to prevent the reoccurrence of the WPV and stop the spread of all the other types of Polio virus in all states and LGAs in Nigeria. We need to collectively address the remaining challenges facing the programme today, including the poor access to children in some parts of the country due to insecurity, poor health seeking behaviour of our people, vaccine hesitancy, malnutrition, poor sanitation, inadequate funding for Primary Health Care, especially at State and LGA levels. Polio campaigns will therefore continue in the current tempo and intensity to ensure children and our environment are protected against all types of the polio virus while further strengthening routine immunization against vaccine preventable diseases. The implementation of Immunization Plus Days (IPDs) where we deliver Oral Polio Vaccines (OPV) to children under 5 years of age irrespective of their Immunization status will continue even beyond 2020. This is aimed at boosting the population immunity to maintain the WPV-free status.

It is pertinent to state that political leaders at all levels would need to continue to provide the needed oversight and financial support for Immunization plus days (IPDs), while our traditional and religious leaders need to sustain the mobilization of their people to continuously accept vaccination for their children and wards. We urge our development partners and donors to sustain their technical and financial support to the programme until the job is done. To our caregivers, we salute you and encourage you to continue to present your children for vaccination against polio as every additional dose boosts the child's immunity. Also, it is important that every child is fully vaccinated against childhood killer diseases through routine immunization available at our health facilities before their first birthday. Distinguished Ladies and gentlemen, completely eradicating all types of Polio Virus will be one of the greatest achievements in human history. It will have a lasting, positive impact on the African continent and indeed the world's health systems for generations to come. However, we must not take for granted, our current success because it is one which we must delicately manage with cautious euphoria and resilience. Indeed, the final steps toward Polio eradication in Nigeria require continued political commitment, funding, surveillance and sustained quality of routine immunization coverage across the country. Today is a great day to be Nigerian; today, we have proven that we can do great things when we put our minds and resources to efficient use. Today is also a day to reflect on what we did right and how we can use the same lessons to deliver quality primary health care services to all Nigerians.

Thank you for your attention.

God bless you,

God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria

Signed

Dr. Faisal Shuaib MD, MPH, DrPH

Executive Director/ CEO

National Primary Health Care Development Agency.

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