Nigeria to eradicate polio by 2012- Jonathan

Vice-President Namadi Sambo(middle), Onyebuchi Chukwu, Health Minister and others at the launch

Nigeria to eradicate polio by 2012- Jonathan
Rafat Salami, Abuja

The Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan, has pledged that Nigeria will eradicate polio by 2012.

He said this in Abuja, the nation's capital, at the launch of the Sub National Immunization Plus Days and that of the Polio-Free Torch Campaign.

Represented by Vice President Namadi Sambo, he said that government was committed to eradicating the disease and protecting the health of all Nigerians, especially children under the age of five.

Polio-free torch

His words:

“The federal government is determined to give all it takes to rid our country of polio and indeed all vaccine preventable diseases. It is in the light of the foregoing that the federal government approved the introduction of two important vaccines into our national immunization schedule for the first quarter of 2012. These vaccines will prevent deaths resulting from severe infections such as pneumonia and meningities.’’

That the polio-free torch campaign coincides with the London 2012 Olympic Games is symbolic.

Polio eradication initiative

It represents the determination of the Nigerian polio eradication initiative to make the year 2012 the last year that Nigeria witnesses a case of polio.

The polio-free torch will travel through states, especially in northern Nigeria to engage governors, chairmen of local government areas, and other influencial stakeholders to support the polio eradication initiative.

According to the national primary health care development agency: “the total number of wild polio virus cases reported so far in Nigeria is 43”.

The breakdown shows that 21 of these children contracted the WPV1 strain, 7 had WPV3 strain and 14 children had the vaccine-derived polio.

Nigeria remains one of only four countries in the world where the wild polio virus is still being transmitted.

Other polio endemic countries are Pakistan, India and Afghanistan.

Iheanacho