The Federal Government is collaborating with Cameroun to stop trans-border transmission of wild polio virus back into Nigeria.
The decision, according to the Executive Director, National Primary HealthCare Development Agency, Dr. Ado Muhammad, follows the reported outbreak of the virus in Cameroun
Muhammad spoke in an interview with journalists in Abuja during the 28th Expert Review Committee on routine immunisation and polio eradication in which the Chairman of Rotary National Polio Committee in Nigeria, Dr. Tunji Funsho, said that the organisation had spent $1.2bn on the programme across the globe since 1987 when it started the fight to eradicate polio from the world.
He said, “Talking about Nigeria’s half of this year’s programme, Rotary has released $7.4m to both UNICEF and the World Health Organisation for this programme and our national committee itself, so far this year, has spent up to $3m to help operational costs system.”
Muhammad, however, said that the government deemed the collaboration necessary since Nigeria shares borders with Cameroun, adding that border states like Adamawa, Borno, Yobe and Taraba were at risk of being infected.
He said, “We need to fortify our borders, so during this time, we have been working and collaborating with the government of Cameroun to make sure that we synchronise our campaigns so that while they are carrying out their campaigns, we are also carrying out our own in our adjoining local government areas that border Cameroun.”
The NPHCDA boss stated that one of the strategies put in place to stop trans- border transmission was to strengthen the quality of routine immunisation in areas that are close to Cameroun to avoid importation.
“We are having access barriers in those areas, so we are putting in place new resolutions to modify the emergency plan that we will put in place in those states in terms of the constrained exigencies,” he said
Muhammad added that of the 774 local government areas in the country, 759 had been certified polio-free for the past three years, thus calling for the sustenance
