Health
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Nigeria’s polio status in 2017 will determine if Africa can be certified a polio-free continent
| By Anayo Ezugwu | Dec 21, 2015 @ 01:00 GMT |
IF Nigeria is certified polio-free in 2017, it will invariably lead to the certification of the African continent as polio-free. Ranganai Matema, health specialist, United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, in Abuja, made the remark when she addressed the members of the Journalists Against Polio, JAP, a non-profit group in Sokoto State.
She said in Africa, all countries will be certified polio-free when Nigeria is certified polio-free in July 2017. “This is sequel to the removal of the country from the list of polio-endemic countries, thus leaving only Pakistan and Afghanistan on the list. We are happy that Nigeria has not recorded any new case of the wild polio virus since July 24, 2014, and the virus has been rudely interrupted,” she said.
Matema, however, stressed that routine immunisation should be intensified across the nation, while the current tempo should be sustained. “All pregnant mothers must be fully immunised while all children aged between five years and below should be fully immunised against polio and all the child-killer diseases. A remarkable improvement has been achieved in this direction, although more needs to be done.”
On September 25, 2015, the World Health Organisation, WHO, announced that polio is no longer endemic in Nigeria. WHO said this is the first time that Nigeria has interrupted transmission of wild poliovirus, bringing the country and the African region closer than ever to being certified polio-free.
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative, GPEI, the public-private partnership leading the effort to eradicate polio, called this a ‘historic achievement’ in global health. Nigeria has not reported a case of wild poliovirus since July 24, 2014, and all laboratory data have confirmed a full 12 months have passed without any new cases.
As recently as 2012, Nigeria accounted for more than half of all polio cases worldwide. Since then, a concerted effort by all levels of government, civil society, religious leaders and tens of thousands of dedicated health workers have resulted in Nigeria successfully stopping polio. More than 200,000 volunteers across the country repeatedly immunised more than 45 million children under the age of five years, to ensure that no child would suffer from this paralysing disease. Innovative approaches, such as increased community involvement and the establishment of Emergency Operations Centres at the national and state level, have also been pivotal to Nigeria’s success.
The interruption of wild poliovirus transmission in Nigeria would have been impossible without the support and commitment of donors and development partners. Their continued support, along with continued domestic funding from Nigeria, will be essential to keep Nigeria and the entire region polio-free.
Polio, which can cause lifelong paralysis, has now been stopped nearly everywhere in the world following a 25-year concerted international effort. Polio remains endemic in only two countries – Pakistan and Afghanistan. The eradication of polio globally now depends primarily on stopping the disease in these countries. As long as polio exists anywhere, it’s a threat to children everywhere.
Nigeria has made remarkable progress against polio, but continued vigilance is needed to protect these gains and ensure that polio does not return. Immunisation and surveillance activities must continue to rapidly detect a potential re-introduction or re-emergence of the virus. After three years have passed without a case of wild poliovirus on the continent, official ‘certification’ of polio eradication will be conducted at the regional level in Africa.
Eradicating polio will be one of the greatest achievements in human history, and have a positive impact on global health for generations to come. Nigeria has brought the world one major step closer to achieving this goal and it’s critical that we seize this opportunity to end polio for good and ensure future generations of children are free from this devastating disease.
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative is spearheaded by national governments, WHO, Rotary International, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, and UNICEF, and supported by key partners including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Since 1988, the incidence of polio has been reduced by more than 99 percent. At the time, more than 350,000 children were paralysed every year, in more than 125 endemic countries. Today, two countries remain which have never stopped endemic transmission of polio: Pakistan and Afghanistan. In 2015, 41 cases of wild poliovirus have been reported worldwide (32 in Pakistan, 9 in Afghanistan).
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