Nigeria will be polio-free in the next six months, Executive Director of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Faisal Shuaib, has declared.
He spoke at briefing commemorating the 2019 African Vaccination Week (AVW) attended by the Country Representative for the World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr. Clement Peter; Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) Champion for Africa on Immunisation and CEO Avon Medical Limited, Dr. Awele Elumelu, and Country Coordinator for GAVI, Nadia Lasri, among others.
Shuaib said: “Because we have been innovative and creative with routine immunisations, we are now at a point where we are just some six months away from being declared polio-free in Nigeria.”
He commended the efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari and the Federal Ministry of Health in the effective progress made in immunisation coverage, noting the increase of routine immunization coverage rates from 48 percent in 2015 to 57 percent in 2018.
“Immunisation is critical for building a resilient health system under the visionary leadership of Buhari, and the strategic and policy direction of the honorable Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole,” he stated. Read more