Reports: Nigeria Winning War Against Polio

The Global Polio Eradication Initiatives on Thursday in Lagos reported that Nigeria was winning the war against polio.

NAN Reports:

The report, made available to journalists, quoted Oyewale Tomori, Chairman, Nigeria’s Expert Review Committee on Polio Eradication and Routine Immunisation, as giving the score card.

The report quoted Mr. Tomori, a professor, as saying that only one case of wild polio had been reported in the first two months of the year across the country. It occurred in Gaya Local Government Area of Kano State on February 1, the report said; adding that this was the first time that no polio case would be reported in most parts of the northwestern states.

“Between January and September 2012, Nigeria reported 101 cases of polio in 13 states cutting across 70 local government areas, compared to 49 cases in nine states that spanned through 26 local government areas in the same period in 2013,“ it said.

The report said the high level of insecurity had, however, hampered Supplementary Immunisation Activities (SIA) in the northwestern parts of Nigeria.

 This had resulted in huge surveillance gaps, making it difficult to confidently determine the state of polio eradication in the area, it said.

The report, however, said the greatest challenge to polio eradication in the year would be the preparations for the 2015 general elections.

According to the report, every election year since 2003 has been characterised by the abandonment of good governance and this is usually accompanied by a surge in polio cases.

“We were so close to victory. In 2010, Nigeria recorded only 48 cases of polio, but because we did not press victory to the end, we recorded 95 cases in 2011 and 130 cases in 2012.

“We suffered and we continue to suffer as one of the three nations that have never stopped the transmission of polio,” it said.

The report, quoting Mr. Tomori, however, said stakeholders should ensure that the 2015 elections were not used to set Nigeria back in its race to eradicate polio.

“We must engage the press, civil society organisations, parents, and academics to call governments’ attention to health in general and polio eradication in particular, “the statement said.

It called for the involvement of traditional and religious leaders as polio eradication advocates and the establishment of temporary mobile health camps that would contribute to Nigeria’s progress in the campaign.

Source: (NAN), Premium Times