Skip to main content

World Polio Day: ‘Complacency could bring polio virus back’

By

The international philanthropy Rotary has warned the country risked slipping into complacency if it gets carried with being removed from a list of polio-endemic countries.

Chairman of Rotary’s Nigeria National Polio Plus Committee, Tunji Funsho, said overwhelming emphasis on Nigeria being “polio-free” after stopping transmission of type 1 wild poliovirus for the past 15 months might lead to complacency.
At a press briefing to commemorate World Polio Day in Abuja, Funsho said, “We have gone a full year without polio, but for us to truly be polio free, we need to go two more years, and it promises to be tough.”
World Health Organisation is to officially inform Nigerian government on October 26 of its being removed from a list of endemic countries that now has only Pakistan and Afghanistan, some 15 months after the last recorded case of type 1 polio since July 2014.
Type 2 poliovirus has not been recorded in the past 17 years, and there has been no record of type 3 poliovirus in the past 34 months. But Funsho explained that Nigeria will need to go without new polio infections until 2017 before it is certified free and the virus eradicated.
Rotary, which has spent some $300m to fight polio in Nigeria, said eradicating the virus will require intensified routine immunisation and better efforts to reach children in security-compromised areas.
Misbahu Didi, president of Polio Survivors Group, which is staging a walk and para-soccer competition in Abuja this weekend, said survivors crippled by childhood polio need support and encouragement to function in society.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

SHORT BUT SAD STORY: The Scorpion And The Turtle

By
O nce upon a time, the scorpion wanted to cross the river. It noticed a turtle on the rock and begged the turtle to ferry it across the river where it could find some succulent green vegetation. The turtle asked, "How can i be sure you will not sting my neck?" "Don't be silly," the scorpion shouted back, "If i did that, we would both drown." The turtle was persuaded and so they both swam (with the scorpion strapped to the turtle's back) towards the green vegetation. When they were almost at the end of the river, contrary to its promise, the scorpion stung the turtle on the neck. Struggling to make it to the riverbank and gasping, the turtle with a look of betrayal asked the scorpion, "Why did you do this to me?" Jumping off from the turtle's back to safety on the land, he replied, "I thought you might dive under the water and drown me." What did you learn guys? I learnt that people find it very hard to trust others.
Post a Comment
Read full story »

A bug and Akpors

By
Every night, Akpors would go down to the liquor store, get six bottles of beer, bring them home, and drink it while he watched TV. One night, as he finished his last beer, the doorbell rang. He stumbled to the door and found a six-foot cockroach standing there. The bug grabbed him by the collar and threw him across the room, then left.
Post a Comment
Read full story »

SHORT STORY: The Snake Prince: The Glitter Of Death

By
Once upon a time, there lived a king who had a daughter called Aminat. She was the most beautiful girl in town. Aminat was asked for her hand in marriage by so many young men, but she refused. Her expectation was for a ready-made handsome young man with riches.
Post a Comment
Read full story »