Adamawa records four news cases of polio

• Over 100m children at risk of paralysis by vaccine-derived poliovirus, WHO warns
• ‘No child should die of preventable diseases including pneumonia’
• SCI, partner donate N50m equipment to Ikorodu health facilities

The Adamawa State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (APHDA) has said four polio cases have been recorded in the state. While announcing the outbreak, yesterday, to mark the 2021 World Polio Day in Yola, the state capital, APHDA Executive Director, Dr. Sulaiman Bashir, disclosed that the new cases were caused by the circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus.

He said 99.9 per cent of polio has, however, been wiped out with the oral polio vaccine. He lamented that in rare cases where enough children are not immunised, other forms of the virus would continue to circulate.

According to him, three cases were recorded in Yola South Council, while Gombi had one. In spite of the giant strides recorded in polio eradication globally, more than 100 million children remain at risk of paralysis by vaccine-derived poliovirus.

World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, stated this in a message to commemorate the World Polio Day.

She said the best way to protect children from polio is by increasing population immunity through routine immunisation and ensuring strong surveillance systems are in place to rapidly detect any cases.

“Together, with the dedication of frontline health workers, with engaged communities, national leadership, and the support of partners, we can ensure that vaccines reach every at-risk child by 2023 to protect them and future generations from all forms of polio,” she added.

This came as Country Director, Save the Children International (SCI) Nigeria, Mercy Gichuhi, declared children don’t have to die of preventable diseases including pneumonia.

Gichuhi stated this, yesterday, at the donation of equipment worth over N50 million to government-owned hospitals in Ikorodu and the presentation of baseline research findings on treatment of pneumonia in Ikorodu, under the Integrated Sustainable Childhood Pneumonia and Infectious Diseases Reduction in Nigeria (INSPIRING) project by SCI Nigeria.