Augustine Osayande
13:34 27/07/2015
Abuja - The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has congratulated Nigerians for preventing the spread of polio in the past year.
He
said the successes recorded in Nigeria in Polio eradication in the past
365 days without a single case of the virus was as a result of the
relentless hard work of partners, religious, community leaders and
health workers.
The Senate President was pleased with the
successes in Polio eradication from reported cases of 801 in 21 states
in 2005 and with 62 wild cases and 34 Circulating Vaccine-Derived Cases
(cVDPV) that had an endemic transmission rate in 2011 coupled with 122
wild cases and 8 circulating vaccine-derived cases.
He expressed
his happiness in the containment of Polio in the country because the
transmission rate in 2012 was endemic with reported 53 wild cases and
three circulating vaccine-derived cases which were recorded as
transmission endemic in 2013 to now having no documented case of
poliomyelitis in 365 days.
Saraki
credited the successes recorded in the eradication of the virus to the
introduction of the Immunization Leadership Challenge.
He
explained that the challenge, which was designed in partnership with
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to reward states in Nigeria that made
significant improvements in polio and routine immunization coverage, was
to fast track achievement of the global milestone of interrupting
further transmission of polio virus in Nigeria.
The Senate President urged Nigerians not to relent in this fight against polio.
The disease has been responsible for significant number of mortality and morbidity mostly, in children under years of age.
"As long as a single child remains infected, children in all countries are at risk of contracting the virus," Saraki said.
He
emphasised the imperative need to continue the good work towards
eliminating this crippling and potentially fatal virus until the World
Health Organization (WHO) certified Nigeria as polio-free in 2017.
This will take Nigeria off the list of countries where the disease is endemic.
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