Boko Haram Blamed as Borno Records 14 Polio Cases

The Boko Haram insurgency has been
identified as the factor responsible for the
recent rise in the cases of poliomyelitis in
Borno State. According to the Borno State Commissioner
for Health, Dr. Salma Anas-Kolo, the state,
with 14 cases was the highest in the country
which he blamed on insecurity in many parts
of the state, which made difficult for health
workers to immunize children in the state. Anas-Kolo disclosed yesterday at a
sensitisation programme for traditional
leaders in the state that Borno has 14 cases
of polio out of the nation's 37 and the
global 44 cases.
She said that the sensitisation programme became imperative in order to meet the
2014 World Health Organisation (WHO)'s
target of freeing the globe of polio. The commissioner, who explained that
Maiduguri was picked for the kick off of the
sensitisation programme because it
recorded the highest cases of six in the
state with its neighbouring council having
four cases, said it was not all a sad story as the incidences could have been higher but
for the dedication of health workers that
withstood the insecurity and went to some
areas to get children immunised. The Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Abubakar Ibn
Garbai Al-Amin Elkanemi, who hosted the
sensitisation programme at his palace,
called on his subjects to avail their children
from 0-5 years to take immunization
vaccine against the five killer diseases. He asked all traditional institutions in the
state to intensify effort towards fighting
polio, insisting that the government would
not give them any drug that will harm them. He admonished them to tell their subjects
to take the drug, noting that Borno being
the citadel of knowledge cannot continue to
promote the idea that immunization is
targeting at birth reduction.

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.