Nigerians were dismayed over the recent outbreak of Vaccine-Derived Poliovirus Type 2 (cVDPV2) in some states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The states include Jigawa, Kano, Kebbi, Lagos, Niger, Rivers, Sokoto, Yobe, Zamfara, Abia, Bayelsa, Borno and Delta.
The disappointment is because, following global and national initiatives, on August 25, 2020, Nigeria became the last country in Africa to be certified free of wild polio after the continent’s last case was reported in Borno State in North East Nigeria in 2016.
It was such a historic achievement that Dr Walter Kazadi Mulumbo, the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Country Representative in Nigeria, said it “is undoubtedly the greatest public health triumph in the annals of Nigeria and indeed Africa that will bequeath to posterity lessons learnt and best practices for addressing future public health interventions.”
The feat, which was also celebrated by many Nigerians, was achieved through the collaborative effort of UN agencies under the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) partners, including Rotary International; the US Center for Disease Control (CDC); Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI); as well as Nigerian traditional and religious leaders and foot soldiers who volunteered across communities, fighting to free children from the virus.
Nigeria attained the status after meeting all the criteria for certification, which include three years of non-detection of any wild poliovirus case in the country.
According to a study, the vaccine-derived polio was noticed in Northern Nigeria in 2005 when a CDC laboratory technician at a polio laboratory observed a preponderance of Type 2 polio virus in samples from that region.
But more than 200,000 volunteers across the country, buoyed by federal, state and global support, repeatedly immunised more than 45 million children under the age of five to ensure that no child suffered from this paralysing disease.
Sadly, this celebration has been cut short by the outbreak of the vaccine-derived polio virus in parts of the country. Out of the global 420 cVDPV2 cases recorded in 2021, 266 occurred in Nigeria. Three newly infected countries were all as a result of international spread of cVDPV2, namely Guinea Bissau, Mauritania and Ukraine.
With this development, the immediate focus is to declare an emergency towards the eradication of this polio variant and work to keep the virus permanently out of the country.
Since UN agencies, particularly WHO and UNICEF, alongside Nigeria’s international partners, through GPEI, played very strong roles in the wild polio eradication effort, this is the time to reactivate all links with the stakeholders. The three tiers of government in Nigeria, the nation’s development partners, donors, traditional and community leaders, health workers and caregivers must be mobilised.
There must be urgent effort to rededicate resources to stop the transmission of any type of polio virus and to strengthen routine immunisation, especially in high risk areas and maintaining high quality surveillance. Parents must be sensitised on the presence of this variant of polio in the country and the need to ensure that their children/wards are vaccinated during routine and supplementary immunisation campaigns. Vaccines should also be made available at all nooks and crannies of the country to ensure easy accessibility.
The federal government, working with the governors of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), must strengthen the primary healthcare system at the grassroots. This is so because as far as WHO is concerned, a single confirmed case of polio paralysis is evidence of an epidemic.
Also, the activities of Polio Survivor Groups (PSG) should be encouraged as their testimony is important in getting skeptical Nigerian parents to embrace vaccination.
And since polio often spreads due to contact with infected faeces as a result of poor sanitation and hygiene, there must be constant campaigns on the need for proper hand washing and avoidance of eating or drinking contaminated food or water.
It is true that health workers are working to keep the effect of COVID-19 at its minimum in Nigeria, but they must not lose sight of other issues, like polio. All hands must be on deck to free the country of this virus.
