The Federal
Government has expressed optimism that with the impressive gains recorded in
the fight against the wild polio virus disease, the case will be completely
eradicated from the country like the Ebola virus diseases.
Vice
President Mohammed Namadi Sambo expressed the confidence Thursday, at a meeting
of the Presidential Task Force on Polio Eradication held at the State House,
Abuja.
Vice
President Sambo said “Government will continue to give political support,
ensure sustained funding of the programame, procurement of the polio vaccines
and support the introduction of other new vaccines and work with the
traditional, religious leaders, development partners and other community based
organizations, to ensure that no polio case is recorded in Nigeria.”
He commended
the Commissioners of Health in various States, Local Government Chairmen,
traditional rulers, especially the commitment of His Eminence the Sultan of
Sokoto and the Shehu of Barma as demonstrated through the Northern Traditional
Leaders Committee on Primary Health Care (NTLC).
He also
commended the support of the partners such as Aliko Dangote Foundation, Bill
and Melinda Gate Foundation, the World Health Organisation and other partners
for their unwavering support towards eradication of the virus.
Sambo
expressed delight that in the last two years no new case of the virus has been
recorded and 88 percent has been achieved in 2014 compared to 27 local governments
in 2013, noting that the country has greatly improved this year as compared to
other parts of the world where polio is the problem.
He also
noted that the task is enormous but urged all stakeholders to continue to work
collectively in order to achieve result especially in the areas where there is
security challenge and other risk factors. The VP also urged them to
ensure success in the eradication of other diseases such as measles, whooping
cough and diarrhea.
Earlier, the
Supervising Minister of State for Health, Dr. Khaliru Alhassan, gave update on
the success of the programme and challenges, stressing that the “Wild Polio
Virus is now confined to only five LGAs compared to the more generalized
situation of the past…today, we have six cases of Wild Polio Virus in Nigeria.
In the last one year, 96% of the 774 local government areas have been polio
free, while 35% out of 37 or 95% states have been without polio in the last one
year.”
The
Executive Secretary of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr.
Ado Mohammed, delivered a power point presentation where he expressed the
efforts of the three tiers of governments in the eradication of the polio
virus.
Commissioners
from states also gave highlights and comments on the achievement of the
programme. The Commissioner of Health from Kano State which has five cases of
the virus said all hands are on deck and with the support of the partners and
traditional leaders, it would soon be eradicated.
Yobe State Commissioner of Health also said the only one virus
identified in the state is confined to a Ward and assured of its eradication.
All stakeholders were encouraged to sustain the achievement by constantly
immunizing children especially at the border towns to avoid the importation of
same to the country.
Present at
the meeting were the Governor of Bauchi State, Alhahi Isa Yuguda, the Deputy of
Kaduna State, Dr. Nuhu Bajoga, representative of World Health Organisation and
UNICEF, Commissioners of Health from various states of the Federation.
Tags
Society