The World Health Organization (WHO) has officially removed Nigeria from the list of polio-endemic countries, two months after Nigeria went a whole year without recording a case of wild poliovirus infection.
Nigeria interrupted transmission of the virus brings it and the African region closer than ever to being certified polio-free.
“The outstanding commitment and efforts that got Nigeria off the endemic list must continue, to keep Africa polio-free," said Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of WHO.
The announcement came at a meeting of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), the public-private partnership leading the effort to eradicate polio, in New York at 4pm New York time.
“We Nigerians are proud today. With local innovation and national persistence, we have beaten polio," said Dr Ado Muhammad, Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency at the meeting in New York.
"We know our vigilance and efforts must continue in order to keep Nigeria polio-free.”
As recently as 2012, Nigeria accounted for more than half of all polio cases worldwide.
But it has taken concerted effort by all levels of government, civil society, religious leaders and tens of thousands of dedicated health workers.
Over 200,000 volunteers across the country repeatedly immunized more than 45 million children under the age of five years, to ensure that no child would suffer from paralysing brought on by polio.
The disease has now been stopped nearly everywhere in the world following a 25-year concerted international effort.
But it remains endemic in only two countries – Pakistan and Afghanistan, and global eradication now depends primarily on stopping the disease in both countries.
Anthony Lake, Executive Director, UNICEF, said Nigeria's exit from the list of polio-endemic countries is a major victory for Nigeria’s children.
"And it is proof positive that if we work together in partnership to reach every community and immunize every child, we can finish the job of eradicating this evil disease everywhere, once and for all.”
By Judd-Leonard Okafor
Daily Trust
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