The Federal Ministry of Health supported by WHO, UNICEF and partners
of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative have rolled out an emergency
Polio immunization campaign in Borno, an official said.
The UNICEF Chief of Communication, Doune Porter, said in a statement
in Abuja on Friday that the campaign would commence in the accessible
parts of the state.
Porter said that the campaign followed confirmation of two fresh
cases of polio virus in parts of the state which recently became
accessible.
He said the outbreak occurred in the conflict-ridden state where
children were already facing dangerously high levels of malnutrition.
Porter said the discovery underlined risks for children in conflict
and underscored the urgent need to eradicate the disease in
conflict-affected areas.
He said that Nigeria had its last confirmed polio case two years ago
and was within a year of being certified polio-free because of massive
mobilisation by government, partners and local health providers.
“We cannot deny the connection between conflict and the continued
threat of polio. The two new cases mean children across the Lake Chad
region are now at particular risk.
“With our partners, we will not stop until we reach every child with polio vaccination,” Porter said.
The Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, had said on Thursday that the
government would immediately immunise up to 5 million children in four
states in an emergency response to the outbreak.“Our overriding priority right now is to rapidly boost immunity in
the affected areas to ensure that no more children are affected by this
terrible disease,” Mr. Adewole said.“Local health officials with the support of partners including WHO
and UNICEF are conducting detailed risk analysis to clearly ascertain
the extent of circulation of the virus, and to assess overall levels of
population immunity in order to guide the response.
(NAN)
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