The President of Rotary International, Gordon McInally, has urged Nigeria to be vigilant to ensure that polio does not find its way back into the country.
McInally gave the advice, according to a statement on Friday, while he spoke with journalists at the State House, Abuja, after leading other members of the global organisation to meet with President Bola Tinubu.
He said, “One of the principal reasons for coming to see your President was to say thank you to him for everything that Nigeria has done in the field of polio eradication. We’re very excited that worldwide we are about to complete the polio eradication campaign and of course, polio was certified free from Nigeria five years ago in 2019.
“But we have to remain vigilant. We cannot afford to let our guard down, we have to make sure that we continue the work to ensure that polio does not come back to places like Nigeria, to places in Africa, and to places in other parts of the world as well.”
McInally disclosed that about 350,000 cases of polio were globally recorded every year about 30 years ago, but in 2023, it had reduced to 12 cases.
Meanwhile, the Sokoto State Primary Healthcare Development Agency and UNICEF have engaged traditional rulers, council chairmen, and other local government stakeholders to tackle the rejection of the polio vaccine.
Speaking during the engagement on Friday, according to the News Agency of Nigeria, the UNICEF Social and Behavioural Change Specialist, Mr Ogu Enemaku, said the meeting was held as a follow-up to a four-day immunisation campaign against poliomyelitis in the state.
Enemaku said during the concluded exercise, a high number of non-compliance cases were recorded across the state and the figure had attracted Governor Ahmad Aliyu’s attention.
Also speaking, the SBC Team Leader in Sokoto, Mrs Hauwa Buhari, said most of the non-compliance cases were recorded in the metropolitan local government areas comprising Sokoto North, Sokoto South, Wamakko, and Bodinga with few outside.
Buhari said the training became necessary to ensure that by the end of 2024, polio will be eradicated.
The campaign was launched by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar who enjoined communities to sustain commitments against all child killer diseases to save lives.
The Director of Disease Control in SPHCDA, Dr Bilyaminu Sifawa, stated that the state had recorded 61 cases of Poliovirus Type 2 (CVDPV2), which experts blamed on the inability of parents to avail their wards of immunisation and security challenges affecting the state.
