Polio transmission over in Nigeria, says Rotary

Rotary International, District 9110, says polio transmission has stopped in Nigeria.

The Chairman, Nigeria National PolioPlus Committee,

who is also a member of District 9110, Dr. Tunji Funsho, said this while assuring that the forthcoming National Immunisation Day would be held in the North-East states from March 14.

He said, “This time last year, we projected that we will stop polio transmission in Nigeria; we have succeeded in doing that.

“There has not been polio transmission to any child since July 24, 2014. This was achieved through combined efforts by all the agencies that constitute the teams. We have resources available to ensure that there is no case of polio again in the country. Each child will be given two drops of oral polio vaccine.”

Funsho explained that the Federal Government had promised polio immunisation teams adequate security to ensure the success of the exercise in highly polio-prone states.

He said, “For the security compromised areas, we meet regularly with security agencies and they have guaranteed our safety.

“What we will do is to deploy more members in the areas and in two days, the children would have been immunised. The government has assured us of security in Kano, Yobe, Adamawa, Borno, Yobe and Bauchi states for this year’s immunisation programme.”

Funsho commended the immunisation teams, which comprised officials of the World Health Organisation, United Nations Children’s Fund, stakeholders at federal, state and local government levels, among others, for their efforts in stopping polio transmission in the country.

Funsho stated that the teams had been trained to sustain the fight against the infection.