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Tag: Polio eradication

  • Zamfara govt commits to polio eradication

    Zamfara govt commits to polio eradication

    Dr Husaini Yakubu, Executive Secretary of the Zamfara Primary Healthcare Board, has reaffirmed the state government’s commitment and that of other partners to eradicating polio in the state.

    Yakubu said this at the 2025 World Polio Day celebration held at the Emir of Gusau’s Palace on Saturday in Gusau.

    The ceremony was attended by polio survivors, government officials, representatives from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), among others.

    Yakubu described the active participation in the polio and rubella vaccination by the stakeholders in the state as a welcome development.

    He attributed the successes recorded in the fight against polio in the state to the active collaboration between the state government and partners.

    Yakubu also commended Gov. Dauda Lawal for declaring a state of emergency in the health sector.

    According to him, various measures taken by the state government and support from stakeholders had resulted in the successes recorded in the fight against polio in the state.

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    “Despite the challenges of insecurity, the state has maintained its polio-free status.

    “We will continue to collaborate with partners and all stakeholders to ensure children in the state are strongly protected from killer diseases.

    “The state government will continue to pay all required counterpart funding for various healthcare development programmes,” Yakubu said.

    In his remarks, the Emir of Gusau, Alhaji Abdulkadir Ibrahim-Bello, promised the Emirate’s continued support for polio eradication in the state.

    Represented by the Secretary of the emirate, Sambo Sambo, it would continue to mobilise religious and community leaders toward polio eradication.

    “We are ready to continue collaborating with the state government, WHO, UNICEF, and other partners to maintain the successes recorded in polio eradication in the state.

    “We will continue to engage our subjects and sensitise them on the significance of the health benefits of polio vaccination.

    “We are achieving success in sensitising our subjects, and we are seeing more acceptance of polio and measles vaccination exercises from parents and communities.

    “Our people are responding to all activities, and they obey all the directives given by the emirate, which has led to various successes recorded,” Ibrahim said.

  • Polio eradication: Nigeria to benefit from $50m Rotary grant

    Polio eradication: Nigeria to benefit from $50m Rotary grant

    Nigeria is to benefit from Rotary International’s $50 million grant polio eradication grant in 2025, it emerged on Thursday.

    The grant recognizes Nigeria’s commendable efforts in combating polio, which led to the country’s declaration as polio-free in 2020. 

    However, the emergence of variant poliovirus type 2 in five States threatens to undermine the achievements, highlighting the urgent need for intensified efforts to curb its spread which makes the Rotary grant even more crucial.

    Speaking on Thursday in Abuja at the Jahi Primary Health Center, alongside his wife, Gay, and other Rotary officials, after administering immunizations and presenting souvenirs to children, Mark Maloney, the Chair of the Rotary Foundation, disclosed this while affirming Rotary International’s unwavering commitment to eradicating polio in Nigeria.

    Maloney, the first Rotary Foundation Chair to visit Nigeria to assess the organization’s ongoing efforts, also expressed his admiration for the impact of Rotary International’s maternal and child health intervention through a $2 million Program of Scale grant to Nigeria

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    Highlighting the importance of global polio eradication to Rotary International, Maloney emphasized that this commitment is one of the reasons over $300 million has been invested in the cause in Nigeria.

    “Rotary can only do so much, we are a private organization, but we encourage the government to redouble their efforts, to put the focus on polio eradication like they did with the wild poliovirus, and they were successful, such that I think the last case occurred in 2016, and along with the rest of Africa, Nigeria was declared wild poliovirus free in 2020. Now, we need to work on this variant of polio.

    “I know that there’s a great pressure to work on many different health areas, but if we can succeed in getting these last few cases of variant polio finished, then the government won’t have to worry about polio in their health programme”.

    While appreciating the Federal government’s commitment, he said, “The government has a polio accountability programme, which we applaud, but we hope that we can see a continued focus on polio eradication”.

    Given this, he revealed that Nigeria is set to benefit from a portion of the $50 million grant, pending the recommendations of the International Polio Plus Committee and final approval by the Rotary Foundation Trustees in February.

    “There’s $50 million that I expect will be allocated at that meeting, but a lot of it has to go to Pakistan and Afghanistan where wild polio virus is still endemic. But I think there will be a significant tranche of funds, maybe not tens of millions, I don’t think it will be that big, but a significant amount of money allocated to Nigeria,” he said.

    Maloney also commended the maternal and child health initiative of Rotary Nigeria with the $2 million Program of Scale grant, titled ‘Healthy Families in Nigeria’, which aimed at reducing maternal and infant mortality by increasing the number of births in healthcare facilities. 

    Commending the progress made under the program, he cited a district where facility-based births rose from 11% to 33% within the first year.

    “Though it is too early to measure the impact on mortality rates, the upward trend in medical facility usage indicates progress,” he noted. 

    After symbolically administering the polio vaccine to children alongside his wife, Maloney is scheduled to hold a town hall meeting with Rotarians from across Nigeria, followed by a dinner in his honor. He will then proceed to Lagos to continue his visit to the country. 

    In his remarks, Joshua Hassan, Past District Governor and Chairman of the Nigeria National Polio Plus Committee, revealed that 92 cases of variant poliovirus type 2 had been reported as of December 2024, predominantly concentrated in the northwestern states of Kano, Zamfara, Katsina, Kebbi, and Sokoto. 

    Comparing the persistence of the variant poliovirus to the way mutations occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, which underscored the importance of rapid outbreak responses, he said, “These cases are vaccine-derived or variant strains, and they predominantly affect the northwest region.

    “Our strategy involves swift immunizations to contain and prevent the further spread”.

  • Nigeria will be polio-free in 6 months, says NPHCDA

    The Executive Director of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Faisal Shuaib, has announced that in six months’ time, Nigeria will be declared polio-free.

    He said this at a world press conference commemorating the 2019 African Vaccination Week (AVW), which was graced by the Country Representative for the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Clement Peter; Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) Champion for Africa on Immunization and CEO Avon Medical Limited, Dr. Awele Elumelu, and Country Coordinator for GAVI, Nadia Lasri, among others.

    “Because we have been innovative and creative with routine immunizations, we are now at a point where we are just some six months away from being declared polio-free in Nigeria,” he stated.

    Dr. Shuaib also commended the efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari and the Federal Ministry of Health in the effective progress made in immunization coverage, noting the increase of routine immunization coverage rates from 48% in 2015 to 57% in 2018.

    “Immunization is critical for building a resilient health system under the visionary leadership of Buhari, and the strategic and policy direction of the honorable Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole,” he stated.

    “For the first time in Nigeria we are seeing a consistent and compelling improvement in the number of kids we are reaching with lifesaving vaccines. We have surpassed all historic expectations in immunizations.”

    He, however, complained that lack of awareness and fear of vaccination of caregivers, and the poor attitude of health workers contributes to poor immunization.

    He urged parents and caregivers of children to make available the kids for vaccination to prevent disease epidemics and early death, assuring that all vaccines used in Nigeria are WHO and NAFDAC certified.

    “The measles outbreaks we have seen in the last few months underscore the need for parents to make available their kids for vaccinations every time there is a campaign,” he said. “This is the fewest number of measles outbreak in Nigeria ever.

    ““We are here to celebrate AVW as we do every year, to emphasize for routine immunization to protect kids and women from vaccine preventable diseases. We are also here to celebrate the efforts of vaccine heroes.

    “We look forward to a day when no man woman or child in Nigeria will die from measles, meningitis, or any other vaccine-preventable disease again.”

    Also speaking at the occasion, Dr. Mrs. Awele Elumelu, disclosed that while Gavi has been able to immunize almost 300 million children in Nigeria since their inception in 2000, preventing about 10 million deaths, there remains about 9 million unimmunized children in Nigeria.

  • Rotary announces $100m to support polio eradication

    Rotary International has announced nearly US$100 million in grants to support the global effort to end polio.

    Nigeria is to get $16.1 million from the sum to help in the efforts at complete eradication of the vaccine-preventable disease, which once paralysed hundreds of thousands of children each year.

    The country marks two years without any reported case of wild poliovirus, following four reported cases in 2016.

    While strides have been made against the paralysing disease, wild poliovirus is still a threat in parts of the world, with 10 cases in Afghanistan and three in Pakistan this year so far.

    Explaining the reason for the grant, Rotary noted that as long as a child has polio, all children are at risk, which underscores the need for ongoing funding and political commitment to eradication.

    A statement by Rotary International said further funding was provided to support efforts to keep 12 vulnerable African countries polio-free.

  • Governors, Dangote, foundation partner on polio eradication

    Six governors in the north met in Sokoto State on Wednesday to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Dangote Foundation and USAID to extend the routine polio immunization programme.

    Nasiru El-Rufa’i (Kaduna), Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano), Kashim Shettima (Borno), Muhammed Abubakar (Bauchi), Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto) and representative of Governor Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe State were present at the signing.

    Also present was Minister of Health Prof. Isaac Adewole.

    Tambuwal described Bill Gates as a demonstration of a true philanthropist, who not only touched lives, but went beyond his race and country for humanity.

    He described Aliko Dangote as an unequal interventionist in economic development, health and other humanitarian activities in Nigeria and Africa.

    Tambuwal also hailed the Federal Government for supporting the programme and promised that Sokoto State would ensure quality and standard healthcare service delivery to the people.

    El-Rufa’i noted that the north had been on the news for the wrong reasons, especially for health-related matters. He stressed that the region is committed to changing the narratives.

    He described the signing of the MoU extension as a significant milestone that would ensure the integration of all critical elements, with a shift to more functional health system services against killer diseases.

     

     

     

     

  • Polio eradication threatens Nigeria’s para-sports

    Polio eradication threatens Nigeria’s para-sports

    The recent declaration of Nigeria as polio free, may have its negative effect on the country’s para-sports, according to the Director General of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Alhassan Yakmut.

    According the former International Volleyball player: “We are celebrating that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared that the country is free from polio. This, no doubt, was received with a lot of celebration. But in the sporting sector, it is an agonising moment for us, which would hamper our performance in the Paralympics games.

    “As you are aware, we hold various records in the para sports, and it is very evident that 90% of all those that are participating in these sports are polio patients. With the situation on ground now, Nigeria’s records and achievements in the games would be threatened.”

    He said that situation would warrant identifying other areas where athletes for the games would be selected.

  • Challenge of Polio eradication in Nigeria

    As an international community, we have few opportunities to do something that is unquestionably good for every country and every child, in perpetuity. Polio eradication is one of these opportunities. Therefore, I am putting the full operational power of the World Health Organisation into the job of finishing polio eradication. I am making polio eradication our organisation’s top priority on a most urgent, if not an emergency, basis.”

    If ever there is time the above quote from Dr. Margaret Chan, Director General World Health Organisation is relevant in Nigeria’s context, it is now. We have to put our life on the line to ensure we finish the task of polio eradication in Nigeria. Included in this task is aggressive campaign. The word perpetuity should be stressed until the battle is won. Some may wonder why discussing polio again after much activity was invested in 2013 and we have just had our first and second rounds of National Immunisation Plus Days (NIPDs) in this year. I guess somebody may also be saying, “…but we have had just three cases of polio this year. Have we not tried enough for these children?

    Let’s stop at this juncture to ask some salient questions. If the two children that were affected were your only children, what will you do? What if one of them is your only boy? What will you do if one of the affected children is your most adorable baby girl? I want to assume that you will not throw a big party and say, come and rejoice with me because of what polio virus has done to my family. Never! No one will do such an ignoble and obnoxious thing. You will wail and cry with great lamentation and curse the day polio virus entered the shore of this country. That is what every one of us should do even now that we have three cases.

    Why do we talk so much about corruption in Nigeria? Corruption is still with us as a cankerworm; attacking and destroying our sense of values. Why on earth don’t we cease to make debate on electricity and power a national issue? It is simply because we grope under the burden of the failure of power and electricity in our homes and offices every day. These are topical discussions on daily basis because of the devastating effects on our socio-economic life.

    Poliomyelitis or polio, in the same vein has destructive tendency on our present and has the capacity to also ruin our future if we do not take calculated steps to curtail its evil work by stopping it NOW. I think we all know that the greatest asset any country possesses lies in the ability of her young people. But polio robs us of our ability. Food for thought!

    In 2013, so much noise was made in this direction and I was so delighted. The media blew the trumpet so loudly that even the deaf heard it and the blind saw the signals everywhere. It was a massive campaign. The conglomeration of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation with Dangote Foundation aroused global interest and sparked off conflagrations that would have incinerated the last polio virus here in Nigeria. But unfortunately the fire died out because it was not fuelled with consistent publicity and relevant campaign strategies. The resultant effect is that wild polio virus is still with us till today.

    Because polio is still with us in its rage against our children, we need to continue our fight and be more violent against its existence in our society now than ever. I am very sure that if we deplore all the weapons in our arsenal, it will not be long; we will sing the victor’s song. And when that time comes we will then re-strategize on how to maintain a polio-free state. We will beef up our campaigns against resurgence of polio cases after declaration of a polio-free status. Meanwhile, our primary responsibility now is exiting the endemic status.

    We have recorded two cases as at the time of writing this article. This threatens our target of 2015. We can only be declared free in 2015 if and only if we do not have any cases in 12 months or so. Now, I am afraid that if we do not raise the bar of our campaign to an unprecedented level, next year, 2015, the federal government target for exiting the endemic club may be another mirage.

    The question now is – how do we raise the bar? I may have to bring our memory back to 2013 as I draw my answer from the statement of Mr. Babatunde R. Fashola SAN, the governor of Lagos when Bill Gates and Aliko Dangote paid him a courtesy visit in his Lagos House office, Alausa Ikeja on November 12, 2013. In his address, the governor said, “…that is one thing that I wish to work with and with Dangote Foundation to look at how many survivors that are here and let them lead the campaign as a physical demonstration of what can and what could have been, in addition, of course to doing all of the things we really need to do”.

    This excerpt from Governor Fashola cannot be discountenanced. In my own estimation, this is the next level of aggressive campaign that we have not explored. This is the new ground that we have to break if we must be free in 2015 and afterwards maintain that level of freedom.

    Placing polio survivors to lead the campaign does not mean leadership abdicating its role. He said, “…in addition, of course to doing all of the things we really need to do. This is the most critical stage in this crusade and the way we handle it will determine the eventual outcome. If we do it right, never again shall we lose the strength of our young ones and our dear country to the cruel grip of polio”.

    • Olugbenga, a polio survivor and Lagos Polio Ambassador writes from Lagos.

  • ‘U.S to help Nigeria eradicate polio’

    The United States government has pledged to continue rendering assistance to Nigeria in the efforts to completely eradicate polio in the country.

    The Country Director of U.S Centers for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC) in Nigeria, Dr. Okey Nwanyanwu, gave the assurance at the U.S Embassy in Abuja on Tuesday.

    Nwanyanwu spoke at a press conference on World AIDS Day with special focus on disease outbreaks and control in Nigeria.

    According to him, the CDC is committed to strengthening polio surveillances in major hospitals in urban areas of the northern states, in poor performing local government areas and in nomad/scattered communities.

    He stressed that CDC has been providing key health data to decision makers in Nigeria in the bids to prevent diseases outbreaks.

    He said: “We will do everything possible to support the Nigerian government. We have to get polio out of Nigeria. We are establishing surveillance systems to monitor health issues in Nigeria through integrated disease surveillance response, animal disease surveillance system and surveillance for HIV.”

    To turn around the poor services in the health sector, he harped on the need for the Federal Government to increase annual budgetary provision for heath in order to make meaningful impact in the sector.