Abuja 25th October 2016 - As Nigeria joins the rest of the world to mark World Polio Day, the Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Folorunsho Adewole, reiterated Federal Government commitment to once and for all interrupt polio virus transmission in the country. The Honorable Minister said this when he addressed a press conference in Abuja to commemorate the World Polio Day.

Since the declaration of the wild polio virus outbreak detected in Borno as  Public Health Emergency for countries in the Lake Chad region, over 41 million children have been vaccinated across the five countries in the basin, of which over 1.6 million children were reached in Borno alone, Professor Adewole said.

Although the detection of wild polio virus is a setback for Nigeria, government is committed to ensuring that all children are immunized against polio and other childhood killer diseases. “We are committed to presenting to having, once again, interrupted polio transmission in Nigeria by the next World Polio Day in 2017”, the Minister of Health said.

Speaking at the occasion, the World Health Organization Acting Country Representative, Dr Rex Mpazanje, commended the Government of Nigeria for mounting a truly robust outbreak response in response to the outbreak in North East of Nigeria. “With the demonstrated government leadership and the ongoing support of all partners including the military, we are confident Nigeria is on her way to containing transmission of the virus if this momentum is maintained. WHO together with all Global Polio Eradication Initiative partners remain firmly committed to supporting the Government of Nigeria towards this goal”, Dr Mpazanje remarked.

In a vote of thanks at the Press Conference, the acting Executive Director of National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr Emmmanuel Odu, expressed appreciation to the numerous partners, traditional and religious leaders, civil society groups and front line health workers in rising to the challenge of immunising Nigerian children.

World Polio Day was established by Rotary International over a decade ago to commemorate the birth of Jonas Salk, the man who led the first team to develop a vaccine against poliomyelitis. The use of inactivated poliovirus vaccine and subsequent widespread use of the oral poliovirus, developed by Albert Sabin, led to the establishment of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) in 1988.  Since that period, the world has witnessed a reduction in the number of wild polio virus cases from 350,000 in 1988 to 74 in 2015 and this has given impetus to setting the agenda for its eventual elimination.

Activities to mark World Polio Day in Nigeria commenced from Saturday 22nd October with public polio processions and road shows across the country sponsored by Rotary International. In Benue and Kano states, polio processions were led by the Honourable Commissioners for Health Dr Cecilia Ojabo and Dr Kabir Ibrahim Getso respectively. The Commissioner for Health in Kano in his briefing to the press announced the approval and release of three rounds of IPDs counterpart funds to support immunisation activities in the state and LGA levels.

In Yola, Adamawa state, polio survivors, members of Rotary International and government officials took to the streets for a procession to mark World Polio Day. In Yenagoa, Bayelsa state, road shows featuring music themed around polio was undertaken.

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