Bukola Afeni
The National Primary Health Care Development Agency said there has been a massive decline in the number of kids getting paralysed with a 60% reduction in the number of cVPV2 cases compared to last year.
While stating that there has been more than 95% reduction since the peak of the outbreak in 2021.
The Executive Director of NPHCDA, Dr Faisal Shuaib stated this at the 40th Expert Review Committee meeting in Abuja.
He added that a total of 19 kids were paralysed this year which is one child too many.
” As long as there are cases of cVPVs, we are not yet triumphant, and we cannot say polio is eradicated despite attaining WPV eradication. We acknowledge the sacrifices of health workers and commend the frontline workers for overcoming all challenges to administer polio vaccine drops in the mouths of children, especially in insecure areas”, he said.
Dr Shuaib expressed optimism that the 40th ERC will be momentous.
“This is the final push to eradicate every form of polio from Nigeria, and hopefully the last time we will be meeting to draft another year-long work plan”, he said.
The Chairman Expert Review Committee, Professor Akin Osibogun, called for more funding to address the issue of polio in the country.
” Absence of funding to facilitate the conduct of average response within seven days of receiving some laboratory results. We want to be able to facilitate deployment of devices that are crucial to our surveillance system”, he said.
The WHO Country Representative, Dr. Walter Kazadi Mulombo disclosed that
reaching and sustaining zero cases of cVPV2 in Nigeria in 2023 is achievable.
“We need to strengthen the partnership to surmount the current risks, by
addressing the residual risk of persistent cases of cVPV2 in Northwest state, while maintaining resilience mostly in the southern zones.
“Bridging immunity to avert the risk of cVPV1/WPV1 importation is essential”, he said.
The WHO Country Representative also called for advanced support for the integration and optimization of interventions to address over 10 million zero zero-dose children build-up since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The BIG CATCH-UP campaign agenda should be prioritized. We need to improve and monitor the accountability mechanisms during vaccination campaigns”, he said.
