WHO targets polio eradication across West, Central Africa

The World Health Organisation is taking off from Monday to tackle the last remaining stronghold of polio on 116 million children in Nigeria and across West and Central Africa.

Vaccination team grasps the urgent measure to permanently stop polio on the continent which will be one of the largest of its kind ever implemented in Africa.
WHO identified several polio cases in Northern Nigeria last year, despite previously declaring the country “polio-free”.
Nigeria is thought to be the only country in Africa where polio is spreading. According to a report in August 2016, four children were paralysed by the disease in security-compromised areas in Borno State, north-eastern Nigeria.
More than 190,000 polio vaccinators will be reaching out to all children under five years of age in the 13 countries of Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria and Sierra Leone to curb the polio crisis.
Vaccination team will carry the vaccine in special carrier bags filled with ice packs to ensure the vaccine remains safe and deliver bivalent oral polio vaccine (bOPV) to every house across all cities, towns and villages.
Marie-Pierre Poirier, UNICEF Regional Director for West and Central Africa, said that with the strong commitment of Africa’s leaders, there was confidence that this last remaining polio reservoir could be wiped out, thereby protecting all future generations of African children from the crippling effects of this disease once and for all.
“Polio eradication will be an unparalleled victory, which will not only save all future generations of children from the grip of a disease that is entirely preventable but will show the world what Africa can do when it unites behind a common goal,” Poirier said.

Anthonia Obokoh