The Executive Secretary, Abia State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr Kalu Ulu Kalu has identified that strong political commitment is crucial to the fight against polio in the state.
Dr Kalu stated this while Interacting with newsmen in his office in Umuahia as part of the activities to mark the 2024 world polio day. World Polio Day is celebrated every October 24th. Dr Kalu states that acknowledging the urgent need for renewed collaboration, the Government of Abia State State led by governor, Alex Otti OFR, WHO, UNICEF, and other partners joined forces in March and April 2024 to implement two rounds of Outbreak Response in the State through a coordinated plan aimed at eradicating variant poliovirus.
The Executive Secretary noted that “World Polio Day finds us at a pivotal moment in our mission to eradicate polio. We are now closer than ever to a polio-free Africa, but much work remains”.
“The fight against polio has been a great task over a virus that can cause paralysis and death in a matter of days. It is a journey marked by the determination of countless individuals across the continents, governments, healthcare workers, and communities that have brought us as a Nation to achieve wild polio-free certification in July 2020′.
Dr Kalu emphasized that it is important to recognize and tackle a new and pressing challenge: the continued transmission of circulating variant polio type 2 (cVDPV2). He said that despite substantial efforts, the virus persists in some states in Nigeria fueled by factors like insecurity, limited access to healthcare, and high levels of population movement. He told newsmen that in 2024 alone, 77 polio type 2 detections (both in the environment and in affected people, as of October 5th) were made across 14 states of Nigeria. “Thankfully Abia State has not recorded any case of type 2 (CVDPV2) since December 2023”.
As a result, the executive secretary disclosed that over 1,172,822 children in Abia State have been vaccinated since the beginning of the year. He added that similar campaigns have also been conducted across states in the northem parts of the country where the burden of type 2 (CVDPV2) is high.
Despite their successes as a state, Dr Kalu Ulu Kalu maintained that vigilance is also critical, while they need to enhance surveillance, especially in underserved areas, and accelerate their response to any new detections.
His words,”Equally important is the need to scale up high-quality vaccination campaigns”.
According to him, “The latest Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPED report also underscores the need for enhanced community engagement. In many regions, especially those affected by insecurity or social mistrust, it is the community’s health workers who make the difference between success and failure. We must continue to support these local heroes, ensuring they have the resources and training needed to reach every child with life-saving vaccines. This underscores the importance of the directly ongoing training of frontline health-workers across the 17 LGAs in the State”.
He pointed out that their goals are clear and added that stakeholders must remain vigilant through robust surveillance systems, respond rapidly with high quality vaccination campaigns, improve routine immunization coverage, and ensure that the polio program’s infrastructure continues to benefit other public health priorities. Kalu stressed that progress is real, but setbacks can occur when they lose vigilance.
He therefore, called on all government agencies, partners, and communities to recommit to this cause.
On her part, the representative of WHO, Dr Carol Iwuoha said that the partners support to the state is very key, adding that they have made progress and would not rest until every child is protected from the virus.
She appealed to community, religious leaders and other stakeholders like teachers and parents to support the value of vaccination. According to her, some of the stakeholders listed above do not allow their children to take the polio vaccine, stressing that the vaccine is free and safe.
Dr Carol Iwuoha urged people to join the campaign against polio for children 0 to 5 years.
