Polio: Emeka Offor Foundation urges increased immunisation, surveillance

The Emeka Offor Foundation (SEOF) has enjoined the country to double its momentum towards continuous immunisation, rapid outbreak response, enhanced surveillance, fundraising, awareness, and advocacy against polio.

Founder of the foundation and Rotary International Polio Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr Emeka Offor, made the call in a statement to mark this year’s World Polio Day.

He said the celebration of this year’s World Polio Day calls for reflection on our main job which is to “Keep Polio at Zero” in Nigeria.

He said with the re-emergence of vaccine-derived polio cases in Nigeria, as well as in regions of Malawi, Mozambique, Israel and the USA, there is a great need to remain vigilant, adding that we cannot afford to let our efforts of many decades be in vain.

While renewing his pledge to support the total eradication of polio in the world, Offor said with the rollout of the Novel Oral Polio Vaccine in Nigeria, vaccine-derived polio cases would significantly reduce and bring us closer to ending polio in its entirety.