[color=#990000][/color](Today's editorial at thisday newspaper) 04 Sep 2014

All the stakeholders must be united to finally kick out the debilitating disease

As the Expert Review Committee (ERC) on Polio Eradication and Routine Immunisation meet this week to review Nigeria’s progress in polio eradication, it is imperative that all Nigerians are united to save the lives of our children from the debilitating disability from the disease that has plagued many Nigerian children. The 28th meeting of the ERC is coming at a time when the country is moving close to stopping the transmission of polio virus among Nigerian children and the scourge of debilitation that have bedevilled millions of her children. Now there are fewer cases in the country with a drop of close to 90 per cent from 2013 to date. Indeed, there has been a significant drop in cases leaving only six cases in only two states since the beginning of the year in the country. At this time last year there were 43 cases in nine states.

These success stories have been with the support of key organisations and stakeholders like World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), The Rotary Club, US Centre for Disease Control (CDC) and funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), and Dangote Foundation among many other stakeholders. Besides the mission to get rid of polio from Nigeria, the Polio Eradication Initiative is also playing a fundamental role in the country’s response to the dreaded Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). Specifically, lessons learnt in polio initiative have formed the mainstay in the response to EVD in the country. For example the Emergency Operation Centre approach to the polio emergency was rapidly deployed to the EVD response in Lagos and is being replicated across the country.

Other countries ravaged by polio across the sub-region have also deployed the knowledge gained in polio eradication to EVD response. Considering the current response, Nigeria could by 2015 truly stop the transmission of the polio virus as a prelude to its eradication. This is based on the fact that the country is reaching more children, thanks to innovative approaches that made health care accessible to more children as part of the vaccination programme. According to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) “more children in Nigeria are being reached with vaccines due to the provision of health services alongside polio vaccines, improved engagement from religious leaders, and increases in campaign quality.

Health workers are providing primary care services, including treatment for malaria, malnutrition and diarrhoea, alongside the polio vaccine in key regions.” The National Traditional Leaders’ Committee on Primary Health Care, led by the Sultan of Sokoto, has continued strong advocacy among traditional leaders in communities where polio remains a major public health problem. Since 2010, about 18,000 Islamic scholars in high-risk areas have received training and information on polio, including messages to include in their Friday prayers. While improved campaign quality means the proportion of children who have never been vaccinated against polio is steadily dropping there is a need to be cautious and sustain lessons learnt in the programme so far. To successfully eradicate polio, Nigeria must maintain strong commitment at all levels of society, particularly among government leaders at federal, state and local government levels.

The forthcoming general elections in the country remain a worrisome period that may make or derail the progress made so far in the programme. Governments across political divide owe it to our children that they are not only vaccinated as at when due but are guaranteed rights to routine immunisation and other child survival enhancing health services. The era of mischief and peddling of rumours on vaccines and other beneficial health care service should be over. Religious and traditional leaders as well as the government should take the lead in ensuring that nothing derails the progress being made to end polio transmission and final eradication from Nigeria again. This is a must for the future of our children.