Abuja 05 September, 2014 - The Chairman and members of the Expert Review Committee (ERC) on Polio eradication and Routine Immunization for Nigeria which comprises global and local experts on polio eradication on Wednesday, 3rd September, 2014 endorsed local innovations  to launch an "all-out" effort to finish wild poliovirus (WPV) in Kano, the only state with on-going transmission, in order to end the fight against the paralyzing disease. 

Dr. Hamid Jafari, the acting Director of Polio Eradication  in WHO Headquarters, who is also a member of the ERC, presented the immediate  recommendations  to the audience on the 2nd  day of the 28th ERC meeting, stated  that based on available evidence  ‘success in Nigeria is dependent on success in Kano State’.

On another important front of reaching children in the security compromised States of Borno and Yobe, the ERC strongly recommended ‘analysis to update the Borno/Yobe Emergency Operational Plan and focus on using the most effective strategies tailored to the range of settings, including  volatility and accessibility.

The experts further appreciated the strong progress that the programme has made in implementing previous recommendations but quickly added that its previous recommendations on enhancing political commitment, timely financing, support to laboratories and the need for continued improvements in surveillance and quality of IPDs remain valid.

Dr. Pascal Mkanda, the Immunizations, Vaccines and Emergencies Cluster Lead for WHO Nigeria had made the case for the adoption of a new innovation of Directly Observed Polio Vaccination (DOPV) in a presentation titled ‘Strategies to Reach Chronically Missed Children: Improving SIAs Quality, In-between Round Activities and Outbreak Response’, which revealed that the Polio Emergency Operations Centre (EOC)   initiated the strategy to intensify outside vaccination and  validate OPV administration as a programme shift to vaccinate chronically missed children  since ‘WPV Outbreak investigation reports in Kano revealed concealment of non-compliance by vaccination teams’. Conversely, he pointed out that ‘evidence from previous IPDs revealed more children are vaccinated outside their households during mop-up exercises’. The new strategy was endorsed by the 28th ERC Meeting.

In closing, the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency acknowledged partners’ support which include WHO, UNICEF, CDC, BMGF, Rotary, USAID, JICA, World Bank, EU, among others, and assured all stakeholders that despite security and operational challenges, ‘Government is committed towards closing the immunity gaps in the polio reservoirs’ and maintain undiluted focus on interrupting the final chains of WPV transmission before end 2014.

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01 Professor Oyewole Tomori (with mic), Dr. Hammid Jafari (left) and Dr. Ado Mohammed, ED NPHCDA
02 Dr. Pascal Mkanda making a presentation at the ERC