| By Lizzy Adie, 17th Out, 2015. Nigeria will today commence a nation wide polio cosolidate on the gains of interrupting the transmission of polio for two years. The campaign will be ubdertaken in 11 polio vulnurable states of Bauchi, Borno, Jigawa, Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara. Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Ado muhammad, described the round of immunisation as unique, and that it would target all Children aged zero to five years, irrespective of their previous immunisation status. He said, total of 32 Million Children are targeted during the campaign. “It is pertinent to reiterate the fact that this is a great feat for our dear country, as it has taken us 17 years to get to achieve it. It is the result of sustained and steady progress in the polio eradication programme since 2013 when the number of cases of polio dropped from 122 in 2012 to 53 in 2013. The progress continued and by end of 2014, only six cases of Wild Polio Virus (WPV) were reported. Since July 24, 2014, there has been no reported causes of WPV in any part of Nigeria. Muhammad said “He reiterate that Nigeria is not polio free yet and called attention to the need for the nation to sustain and also improve on the progress it has made so far to achieve polio eradication by 2017. Mainwhile, the Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr Margaret Chan, is leading a team from the world body to Nigeria to formally delist Nigeria as a polio endemic country. Muhammad called on all Care givers to allow Vaccinators into their homes to immunize their Children against polio. I am therefore using this forum to once again solicit for the continued support of all Nigerians, espercially the press to be advocates of continuous Vaccination of our Children of zero to five years with the oral polio vaccine until WHO certifies Nigeria a polio free country in 2017. |
