WHO De-lists Nigeria From Polio Endemic Countries
The World Health
Organisation has removed Nigeria from the list of polio endemic countries.
The Regional Director of W.H.O, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, who is in Nigeria, broke
the news to President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House in Abuja on Monday.
He
urged the Nigerian government to sustain the efforts ahead of the 2017 target
when Nigeria is expected to be declared polio-free.
Dr
Moeti, who had been earlier received by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of
Health, Linus Awute, along with the W.H.O delegation, also warned against
complacency already displayed in some states in their efforts toward
eradicating polio and other communicable diseases.
President
Muhamadu Buhari expressed his satisfaction on the current polio status and
vowed to maintain the status in order to meet up with the 2017 target.
Nigeria
has successfully interrupted polio transmission in the last 14 months.
If the
records are sustained till 2017, Nigeria will be completely certified as a
polio-free country.
Three
years without cases are required before a country can be declared polio-free.
The
de-listing of Nigeria means that there are just two endemic countries –
Pakistan and Afghanistan – where transmission of the paralysing virus has never
been interrupted.
Polio
is spread by poor sanitation and contaminated water which usually affects
children.
The
virus attacks the nervous system and can cause irreversible paralysis – usually
of the legs – within hours.
In
September when the news of
Nigeria’s de-listing broke,
President Buhari called for continued vigilance to ensure that Nigeria
maintains this new status.
He
directed all government Ministries, Departments and Agencies involved in the
Polio eradication effort, to remain proactively engaged and on guard against
the re-emergence of the virus in Nigeria.
He
assured the WHO and the global community that the Federal Government would
ensure that immunisation and surveillance activities continue across Nigeria,
to keep the country Polio-free.
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