Polio Eradication: Leadership will stop this paralyzing disease in Nigeria

Today, on World Polio Day, it is Nigeria’s chance to show the world that we won’t stop until we achieve a 100% reduction.  As you read this article, Nigerians are in the midst of a door-to-door campaign to provide polio vaccines to 24 million children. Leadership at all levels will make the difference between success […]

Today, on World Polio Day, it is Nigeria’s chance to show the world that we won’t stop until we achieve a 100% reduction.  As you read this article, Nigerians are in the midst of a door-to-door campaign to provide polio vaccines to 24 million children. Leadership at all levels will make the difference between success or failure.

Political, traditional and religious leaders, coupled with the relentless efforts of our community health workers, must be applauded for the progress this year. So far in 2010, Nigeria has had just 8 polio cases, compared to 382 this time last year and 798 in 2008 – an unprecedented drop.

Now, it is time for us to finish the job. Our country is one of the last frontiers in the global campaign to eradicate polio. As long as there’s polio anywhere, the threat of polio exists everywhere. Polio in Nigeria threatens our children and those in other countries and polio in neighbouring countries threatens our children.  That is why our Honourable Minister of Health is leading a special effort to ensure cross-border coordination of immunization and disease control with our neighbours, including Cameroun, Chad and Niger.

The final chapters of polio eradication in Nigeria will require even more effort than the first, but there are many reasons why this campaign deserves unwavering leadership and commitment.  Stopping polio means that our families will never again lose another child to this crippling and disfiguring disease. Over time, eradication will save billions of naira, and we can invest the funds in other health priorities. The infrastructure we have built and the lessons learnt from polio eradication are a spearhead to tackle other health challenges. If we can eradicate polio, we can save our children from other killer childhood diseases, protect our mothers in childbirth and deliver better health services to all Nigerians.

We already know what works. We have seen unprecedented leadership from our Executive Governors and Local Government Chairmen, who have provided oversight and resources, particularly in the Northern states where the risks of polio are greater.

We benefit from essential support for the polio fight from our traditional leaders who are helping to plan campaigns, mobilize communities and ensure families understand the threat of polio and the benefits of the oral polio vaccine. We are grateful to His Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto, for convening a senior committee of traditional leaders who worked to ensure that every settlement was reached and all children protected.

Nigeria’s fight against polio is aided by the momentum and exceptional attention from the international community. There are many allies, such as the Rotary International, which has raised million of dollars for polio vaccines and visionary partners such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, UNICEF and the World Health Organization. National funding and that of our partners is essential to pay for the vaccines, logistics, surveillance and community mobilization required in this massive efforts to reach every Nigerian child under five.

In Nigeria, we have the vaccine technology and the knowledge to contribute to the worldwide mission to eliminate polio. Now, we need continued leadership to ensure our children are immunized. Polio eradication is a priority worthy of our investment. If Nigeria intensifies efforts, international health experts say that our country can end polio transmission by mid-2011.

I call on all leaders to support this campaign which we can all win. If we can eradicate polio, we prove that Nigerian leaders can deliver a historic milestone to all citizens. We must join together; act boldly and definitively, to show that Nigeria is serious about defeating polio once and for all.

Dr Muhammad Ali Pate is Executive Director of the National Primary HealthCare Development Agency