Nigeria, Rotary International Pledge Increased Collaboration to Fight Polio, Infant Mortality

Deji Elumoye in Abuja

President Bola Tinubu yesterday, said his government would continue to collaborate with reputable organisations such as Rotary International in ongoing efforts to eradicate all forms of polio and reduce the prevalence of maternal and infant mortality in the country.

The President, who spoke while playing host to Rotary International President, Mr. Gordon Mclnally, his wife, Heather; Rotary’s Polio Ambassador to Nigeria, Sir Emeka Offor, and other notable Rotarians, at the State House in Abuja, commended the organisation for its various interventions in the country’s health sector, including a new grant of $14 million to enable the World Health Organisation (WHO) provide technical assistance to the government of Nigeria on polio surveillance.
Tinubu declared that it was a national obligation for the government to prioritise the welfare of Nigerians, support their advancement, and ensure that they are not hindered by any form of disease.

“Thank you for the job you are doing. Rotary International has a good reputation on social commitment, not only for the leading role it played in the eradication of polio in Africa, but also in addressing other diseases.
”You have saved countless mothers and children. You are also contributing to the growth of local economies by helping nations combat unforeseen diseases and deaths. You are doing a great job in the protection of the environment and other areas of humanitarian commitment,” the President  said.  
 Tinubu acknowledged the contributions of volunteers from Rotary Clubs in Nigeria who have been instrumental in supporting polio eradication initiatives in the country.

”Whatever is necessary for us to do, I want to assure you that the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare and his team will be on call and available at any time,” the President stated.
Speaking earlier, President of Rotary International, McInally, while lauding Tinubu’s longstanding reputation for supporting healthcare interventions for disadvantaged Nigerians throughout his public service career, offered honorary Rotary membership to the Nigerian leader in recognition of his past and present efforts to rapidly enhance Nigeria’s health sector.

Mclnally, highlighted Nigeria’s support for global polio eradication efforts and polio-free status, having been certified as a polio-free nation in 2020, against the backdrop of only 12 polio cases recorded worldwide last year, which were concentrated on the Afghan-Pakistan border.

He said: “The polio eradication campaign has been our flagship programme for many years. Over the years, we have been working on it, and we have seen Nigeria certified polio-free a few years ago.

”We have reduced the incidence from over 350,000 cases of polio worldwide every year to only 12 cases last year, in the Afghan-Pakistan border. So, we are on the verge of eliminating polio from the world, but we could not have achieved this without the active support of Nigeria. We thank you very much for everything that you have done.

”We must remain vigilant and continue our efforts in this field. Rotarians here in Nigeria are tirelessly working to ensure that children worldwide do not suffer from any crippling disease that can even take their lives”.

McInally, further pledged that the organisation would continue to collaborate with the Nigerian government on programmes to reduce infant and maternal mortality.

”It is only by working together with governments that we can achieve great things,” he concluded.  

Addressing newsmen after the meeting with the President, McInally, stressed the need for Nigeria to be vigilant to ensure that polio does not find its way back into Nigeria.

He said he was at the State House to thank Tinubu for all the support the Rotary International had received from the Nigerian government.

“One of the principal reasons for coming to see your President was to say thank you to him for everything that Nigeria has done in the field of polio eradication. We’re very excited that worldwide we are about to complete the polio eradication campaign and of course, polio was certified free from Nigeria five years ago in 2019.

“But we have to remain vigilant. We cannot afford to let our guard down, we have to make sure that we continue the work to ensure that polio does not come back to places like Nigeria, to places in Africa, to places in other parts of the world as well.

“So my principal reason for being here is to say thank you to him for all the support that the government has given in the campaign, but also to recognise the wonderful work that’s being done at present between Rotary International and government agencies here in Nigeria on child and maternal health, working in the field, particularly in maternal and neonatal mortality,” he said.

Speaking about the work of Rotary International on polio eradication across the world, McInally recalled how the organisation worked to reduce the disease’s prevalence from more than 230,000 yearly to the point that not even one case had been sighted in the last 20 weeks.

 “Polio eradication has been our flagship campaign for many years now and since the late 1980s, we have been working tirelessly to remove that crippling disease from the face of the earth. We did that in Nigeria, in 2019 and we all rejoiced when Nigeria was certified polio free. We will rejoice again and I hope in not too distant future when the entire world is certified polio free.

“Thirty years ago, there were more than 350,000 cases of polio every year. In 2023, there were only 12 cases of polio anywhere in the world and all 12 cases were in a very prescribed area on the Afghan-Pakistan border. Even more exciting is the fact that it is now 20 weeks since we saw a single case of wild polio anywhere in the world”

“That is a cause for great celebration. But we must remain vigilant and we must carry on our polio campaign to ensure that we complete the job we started and to ensure that the entire world is free from the disease in the same way that Nigeria is at present,” he said.

McInally also disclosed that the organisation had launched another project of scale in Nigeria worth $3 million, which had been targeting safe child birth among women in the country for the last eighteen months.

Asked if there was any challenge to the target of total eradication of wild-polio virus on earth, McInally said the virus has been largely routed from the face of the earth, except in a rather small space on the Afghan-Pakistani borders, where geography and mode of living have made reaching the people rather difficult.