Polio: EU to Spend £55m in 24 States

Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu

Polio eradication in Nigeria is feasible as the European Union (EU) in collaboration with the federal government has voted £55 million to fight the killer disease just as the union has undertaken to immunise 24 of the 36 states in the country. Programme Manager (Health) of the EU Support to Immunisation Governance in Nigeria
(EU-SIGN), Dr. Ayeke Anthony, who revealed this at a workshop in Calabar, Cross River State, Tuesday said the EU had resolved to help the Nigeria reduce childhood morbidity/ mortality as well as wild polio virus ravaging the
country. And in order to achieve this, Anthony said 24 states had been selected on the programme billed for implementation in two phases; the first on polio eradication which was expected to cover the whole country at the cost of £20 million, while the second phase would gulp £35 million. “The second phase, which would gulp £35 million is the immunisation component in 24 states through the National Primary Health Care Agency (NPHCA). £5.3 million is expected to be spent on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) mainly on training, provision of infrastructure, need assessment, monitoring, supervision and coordination. “The import of this project is that the federal government has a plan. it has sold the plan to its development partners, and EU has decided to buy into that plan. The intention is to build capacity of institutions of all participating states. The EU-SIGN project is a follow up programme to the defunct EU-PRIME, but both differ in scope and approach,” Anthony said. Some of the benefiting states of the immunisation phase are Kebbi, Plateau, Lagos, Ogun, Gombe, Cross River, Edo, Akwa Ibom, Abia among others. In his speech, the Director, International Cooperation Department of the National Planning Commission (NPC), Mr. Bassey Akpanyung, said the commission was involved because the EU-SIGN programme had the capacity to change the health status of Nigerians.
“The federal government has always found a good partner in the EU particularly in health related issues as immunisation and polio eradication. The government shall give the programme all the necessary support it deserves,” he added. High point of the event was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Commissioners for Health and their local government counterparts from the 24 states, targeted from the six geo-political zones.