President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday warned that nothing must stop Nigeria from being certified polio-free by World Health Organization (WHO) in 2017. He has ordered the agencies involved to increase tempo of the fight against the virus. He gave the order at the Council Chamber of the State House, Abuja while receiving polio high level advocacy team. The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health, Linus Awute, told State House a News Media correspondent at the end of the closed-door meeting, that “the President directed us to sustain the tempo that has led us thus far after 17 years and how to do that is clearly developed in the template upon which we are going to work in collaboration with the governors. “As it is now, there is no polio in our country, but then, we still need to monitor that throughout a period of two years. That is why we need to intensify routine immunization, ensuring that there is no leakage, no gap until 2017 when we shall be certified a polio-free country, having arrested the transmission for upward of one year plus,” he stated. Awute stated there is the need to interface and make further pronouncements that would boost the gains so far recorded in polio eradication. “In doing that, the stakeholders are required and that is why a strong advocacy group, a high level advocacy group that happens to be the pillar and foundation of this tremendous efforts was led down here to interface with the President. “We also need that one to happen at the instance of the governors of the 11 states where polio before now, was endemic. “So, the gains of it is that we have a consensus on what we must or must not do to be able to cherish the gains that we have made”, he stated. Katsina State Governor Bello Masari told reporters that all his colleagues have given the President their commitments to support eradication of polio and other communicable diseases. He stated religious barriers and other factors that used to hinder the progress of the immunization programme have been removed. His Bauchi counterpart, Mohammed Abubakar, stated the state has recorded 24 months of non-prevalence and 34 months for the vaccine-induced polio. “Mr. President has taken charge of the fight towards eradication of polio and he has invited the states that are considered as vulnerable so that he would solicit our buying-in to this renewed eradication of polio,” he stated. WHO Representative in Nigeria, Dr. Rui Gama Vaz, applauded Buhari’s commitment to eradicating polio from Nigeria by 2017. “He has requested the governors to ensure they take the lead. He emphasized on the importance of bottom-top approach, starting from the ward level up to the federal level. “He also highlighted the importance to use the polio to strengthen all health systems in the country”, he stated.
- The Sun