World Polio Day: Total End of Polio in Sight in Nigeria, Says Rotary Governor
Nigeria should be optimistic and hopeful that an end to polio is in sight, the District Governor (DG) of Rotary International in District 9125, Rtn. Sagab Ahmed Sani, has assured.
Ahmed said Rotary International aims to see a polio-free world with the efforts that began in the early 1980s with 200 endemic countries.
The District consists of all Clubs in 23 States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
According to him, with Rotary’s Polio Eradication Initiative’s house-to-house campaign, a lot of ground has been covered in the endemic countries, except two.
He said only Afghanistan and Pakistan are still experiencing Wild Polio Virus infection in the world.
He said: “A lot has really been achieved, we are saying now that 99.99 percent of polio has been eradicated around the world. Even in those two countries, we can see that polio is at the end
“The government is heavily involved in the efforts. Governments of countries that have taken on the Polio Eradication Initiative that Rotary initiated and the government of Nigeria particularly has been doing well because all the main relevant government agencies have identified with it and the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) is doing all it can to ensure that polio is eradicated,” he noted.
On the state of preparedness of the Rotary International District 9125 in tackling the vaccine-derived virus noticed in some parts of the country, he said it is a trend that is always observed towards the end of eradication of a virus, adding, “That is what we are seeing now and that is actually passing the message that we are in the very near future polio will be eradicated”.
On his part, the Chairman, Nigerian National Polio Plus Committee, Rotary International, Joshua Hassan said the 8-kilometre walk/roadshow was to celebrate the individuals, organizations, governments, health workers and professionals that have contributed to the wiping of polio from the world.
He said that World Polio Day is a day set aside to celebrate those who worked tirelessly and have donated so much to make sure that we end polio in the world.
The President of the Rotary Club Abuja, Maitama, who is also the President of all the Rotary Presidents in the FCT, Ijeoma Agwu said the road walk was not intended for the people living in the city alone.
“The celebration began on the 24th of this month and we have been carrying out immunization since Wednesday in our various adopted communities, Rotary used to adopt communities, so, we’ve gone into the communities, deep in the rural communities of Abuja and the metropolis as well”, she added.
On her part, the FCT Coordinator for Nigeria National PolioPlus Committee, Rtn. Anastecia Alkali urged Nigerians to embrace Polio immunisation campaign of Rotary International to “End Polio Now.”
The celebration took the Rotarians from the Abuja Sports Complex in Garki Area, 10 through Moshood Abiola way to Area 1 for the first leg of the 8-kilometre walk and completed with a return to the Sports Complex, where the celebration continued.
