By Toyin Adebayo
The Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) Dr Faisal Shuaib on Monday hinted that about 121 children have been infected by the environmental poliovirus across the federation.
According to the NPHCDA boss, the outbreak cut across different parts of the country with about 121 cases, adding that more than half of the states have one case, it is something that we are getting control of and we are hopeful that we will be able to overcome it.
Shuaib gave this hint, at the Third Quarter review meeting of the union Northern Traditional Leaders’ Committee (NTLC) on Primary Health Care (PHC) Delivery.
He said, “With the different disease outbreaks that we are currently contending with, it is imperative that our approach becomes more integrated. This is because they are all interwoven. Amidst COVID-19, we have Cholera, CVDPV2 which is a result of suboptimal routine immunization in some parts of the country.
“As we conduct outbreak response campaigns, we need to find a way to integrate our responses for efficient utilization of available resources and to enhance confidence in our people.
“The integration will also enhance our determination to continue to safeguard our wild polio virus-free status. Consequently, Your Highnesses, mobilization, sensitization, advocacy and role modelling efforts should target multiple interventions simultaneously”.
Fielding questions from newsmen on the nature of the poliovirus, he said, “There is a clear distinction from the wild poliovirus that has been eradicated in Nigeria and the whole Africa continent from the current outbreak of different types of poliovirus.
“This is a virus that exists where there is low routine immunization care, where women don’t take their kids for immunization shot against polio, measles and yellow fever-like our parents back then used to do.
“Where there is no full routine immunization and where there is poor water and sanitation then you begin derived to see that the virus is mutating just as you see in COVID-19 mutating the same thing applies to poliovirus.
“We would be able to mount outbreak responses to make sure that the tools that we are using will ensure that this outbreak stood. We are in control of the situation, hopefully, before the end of the rainy season, we will be able to carry out enough campaigns to make sure we are able to cover this.
“One other thing that is going to help us is that we don’t see this attack again is the increase in immunization coverage. Since 2016 were we recorded 33% of routine immunization it has now increased to about 71% and double the routine immunization coverage, we still have to get to about 90% before we stop seeing these outbreaks of these diseases.
“We are not there yet, but the unprecedented increase in routine immunization coverage is going to help us. One thing that is clear is that globally there has never been such an increase in routine immunization coverage like we are seeing in Nigeria.
“We will continue to work with traditional rulers, they have been very instrumental in convincing their subjects to take their children for routine immunizations.
“The meeting is in how we can focus on different diseases and the root causes. We can not chase every disease like cholera, chase CVDPV2, chase Yellow fever, we have to look at the bottom line, this is because people don’t have good water and not observing environmental sanitation.
“The traditional rulers are working on how they could increase the knowledge of their subjects and how they can understand the link between poor water availability and poor environmental sanitation and the need to clear up their environments”, he explained.
The Chairman of Northern Traditional Leaders’ Committee, His Royal Highness, Emir of Argungu, Alhaji Samaila Muhammadu Mera said they have been sensitising their subjects on the need to take their children for routine immunizations.
We are leading by example, we have taken our COVID-19 jabs, most district and village heads have taken them. He, however, assured that they will also ginger their subjects to follow suit.
The World Health Organization (WHO) Country Representative, Dr Walter Kazadi Mulombo commended the Northern Traditional Leaders for their commitment to the agenda to ensure that Primary Health Care services remain a priority for Nigerians and in reducing the risk of preventable diseases and death in our communities.
He added that the role of traditional leaders in the eradication of diseases such as small pulse, Ring warm and lately polio are some of the things that really come to mind that their commitment is indeed in the morning right direction.
He also hinted that we anticipate that this meeting will rekindle the spirit of volunteerism and caring for each other in our communities to sustain primary healthcare.
Also, the UNICEF Country Representative, Peter Hawkins said Nigeria has a very good immunization infrastructure and is certain that we will come out of the outbreak of environmental polio in no time.
He said, 120 children, have so far been infected in 2021 with environmental polio, while adding that, Nigeria account for 70% of polio cases across the continent.
Hawkins, however, stated that the out break is across the country and the government of Nigeria and their partners have responded exceptionally well.
According to him, 78 million vaccines had already been utilized throughout Nigeria and 50million more are expected in the next months to counter the outbreak.
He noted that they are implementing the outbreak response to contain the spread of the virus just as we fought wild poliovirus together before, we need to fight the pandemic, polio and strengthen routine immunization.
Meanwhile, Dr Omotayo Bolu, the Director of Immunization, U. S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is (CDC) also commended the traditional leaders for breaking barriers to getting children vaccinated across the country, saying, we will not be here today, if not for the work you have done.
She said, Nigeria has one of the highest numbers of children with CVDPV2 and also the highest number of unimmunized children globally.
She urged the traditional leaders to prevail on their subjects to bring their children for routine immunizations, saying, we have been successful in getting Nigeria out of wild poliovirus, you can help us break the transmission.
