Seems Nigeria is a bit closer to completely eradicating polio in 2017 as it has been one year since the last case of polio was reported in the country.
The last case of polio in the country was reported a year ago in a 16 months old boy from Sumaila Local Government Area in Kano State.
If the country maintains its case status, the country will be certified polio free by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2017.
According to Thisday, the immediate past Minister of State for Health, Mr. Fidelis Nwankwo, “Our eyes are on the prize, but this is the most critical time in the programme. Because the stakes are so high we know that the eyes of the world are on us all to deliver and there is no room for complacency until we achieve eradication in 2017. We are far from there yet.
“We’re really excited by the historic progress that has been made here in Nigeria, however we can’t get distracted by this progress. We are now looking ahead to our next challenge which is to sustain the momentum on an emergency footing until 2017, with strong government oversight and continued levels of funding, so that Nigeria can hit the three-year mark with no cases, and finally eradicate this crippling disease.”
“Interruption is a major milestone. But our aim is not just interruption but eradication,” the executive director of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Ado Muhammad, told AFP.
Oyewale Tomori, president of the Nigerian Academy of Science, who has worked on polio eradication for the past 45 years also added that “We still have two years in which we need to keep polio out.
The deputy director of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Michael Galway, said Nigeria had made “incredible progress but the job isn’t finished, continued leadership and domestic financing, high quality immunisation campaigns and disease surveillance will be key.”