The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has announced that a supplemental polio vaccination campaign will be launched from July 29 to August 11 in order to maintain the FCT’s and Nigeria’s polio virus-free status.
Mr. Malan Haruna, acting Secretary of the FCTA Health and Human Services Secretariat, disclosed this during a news conference in Abuja.
The news conference was co-organized with the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Haruna remembered that Nigeria has been declared free of the Wild Polio Virus by the WHO since August 25, 2020, but that a strain of the virus still remains.
He believes that if the strain is not addressed, the country will see a resurgence of polio.
“This is why this additional polio immunisation exercise is critical to preventing the virus from spreading.”
He stated that vaccination officers will travel from home to home, to marketplaces, religious centres, schools, and other public locations to immunize all children between the ages of 0 and 59 months.
He asked parents to bring their children in to get immunized in order to boost their protection against the virus.
Dr. Isah Vatsa, Executive Secretary of the FCT Primary Health Care Board, stated that every kid who receives the vaccination will be given Indomie noodles produced in Nigeria.
This, he believes, will encourage parents and carers to bring their children to be immunized.
He stated that a total of 26,939 boxes of 40 pieces each were purchased, totaling 1.19 million pieces of the noodles.
“We believe the strategy will improve vaccine uptake, and it will be strictly monitored to avoid abuse and misuse,” he added.
Vatsa stated that the new Oral Polio Vaccine (nOPV2) would be administered to 1.3 million children aged 0 to 59 months.
He also stated that 1.2 million children aged six weeks to 59 months will get the Fractional Inactivated Polio Vaccine (FIPV).
Despite the polio-free status, he stated that the transmission of another strain, the Circulating Variant Polio virus Type 2 (CVPV2) strain, has continued, with 168 documented cases in Nigeria alone in 2022.
“In order for Nigeria to be completely free of polio, we must eliminate the residual risk of all forms of polio virus and increase routine immunisation coverage throughout the country.”
“We are on track, with only 14 cases recorded in Nigeria in 2023,” he stated.
Although no cases had been reported in the FCT, Vatsa stated that the danger was high since “the world is a global village.”
According to him, the risk of not preventing the transmission of the VPV2 variation is that the weakened virus will return to a form that causes disease and paralysis.
He went on to say that the FCT Administration, in partnership with development partners, had implemented a number of methods to guarantee that every eligible kid was reached.
The executive secretary went on to say that all Primary Health Care institutions and government hospitals in the FCT’s six Area Councils will be utilized as immunization sites.
He also stated that temporary vaccination stations were set up in churches, schools, markets, village squares, and other specified locations to relieve the burden on parents and carers.
Dr. Kumshida Balami, WHO Coordinator for Integrated Health Service Delivery in the Federal Capital Territory, stated that great progress has been made in addressing the changing danger of circulating vaccine-derived type 2 (cVDPV2) in Nigeria.
Despite the efforts, Balomi stated that there were still issues and gaps.
“Among other things, we have issues with missing children in hard-to-reach communities, a high risk of virus transmission, low immunity to type 2 polio virus, and insecurity.”
“This is why we’re here to inform residents about the immunization campaign and the strategies being used to educate make sure that no child is left behind,” she explained.
