Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art200901012462626
Polio: ?Nigeria worst hit country in 2008?
By Victor Sam, Abuja
Published: Thursday, 1 Jan 2009
Nigeria on Wednesday ended 2008 with about 783 cases of wild polio virus, thereby registering itself as the most polio endemic country worldwide in 2008.
Also, the global Advisory Committee on Poliomyelitis Eradication in Geneva, Switzerland, has stated that Nigeria would continue to pose a high risk to the eradication of the disease globally due to uncontrolled rate of spread of the disease across its borders.
Investigations by our correspondent on Wednesday in Abuja showed that Nigeria began the year with about 50 cases of the virus, after ending 2007 with a total of 285 cases.
However, by the last week of December 2008, data from the spread of the virus showed that Nigeria had beaten every other country to the topmost place with 783 polio cases nationally.
A breakdown of the data showed that the number of children being paralysed by the disease was increasing in Kano State, which alone recorded about 30 per cent of the cases.
The World Health Organisation had last year stated that the world was close to eradicating the disease, but for some continuous cases of outbreak in Nigeria, along with Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India.
Meanwhile, the fifth session of Advisory Committee of Poliomyelitis Eradication has told WHO that Nigeria will continue to pose a high risk to the international community.
It said, ?Nigeria will continue to pose a high risk to international health until the new top political commitment is translated into field level improvements in campaign quality.
?More than 30 per cent of children are still unvaccinated in Kano. This has resulted in the ongoing co-circulation and international exportation of WPV1, WPV3, and cVDPV type 2.
?The international risks posed by Nigeria are compounded by the current economic climate which severely compromises the capacity of the international community to respond to any new international spread from the large areas of uncontrolled poliovirus transmission in the north of this country.?
Polio: ?Nigeria worst hit country in 2008?
By Victor Sam, Abuja
Published: Thursday, 1 Jan 2009
Nigeria on Wednesday ended 2008 with about 783 cases of wild polio virus, thereby registering itself as the most polio endemic country worldwide in 2008.
Also, the global Advisory Committee on Poliomyelitis Eradication in Geneva, Switzerland, has stated that Nigeria would continue to pose a high risk to the eradication of the disease globally due to uncontrolled rate of spread of the disease across its borders.
Investigations by our correspondent on Wednesday in Abuja showed that Nigeria began the year with about 50 cases of the virus, after ending 2007 with a total of 285 cases.
However, by the last week of December 2008, data from the spread of the virus showed that Nigeria had beaten every other country to the topmost place with 783 polio cases nationally.
A breakdown of the data showed that the number of children being paralysed by the disease was increasing in Kano State, which alone recorded about 30 per cent of the cases.
The World Health Organisation had last year stated that the world was close to eradicating the disease, but for some continuous cases of outbreak in Nigeria, along with Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India.
Meanwhile, the fifth session of Advisory Committee of Poliomyelitis Eradication has told WHO that Nigeria will continue to pose a high risk to the international community.
It said, ?Nigeria will continue to pose a high risk to international health until the new top political commitment is translated into field level improvements in campaign quality.
?More than 30 per cent of children are still unvaccinated in Kano. This has resulted in the ongoing co-circulation and international exportation of WPV1, WPV3, and cVDPV type 2.
?The international risks posed by Nigeria are compounded by the current economic climate which severely compromises the capacity of the international community to respond to any new international spread from the large areas of uncontrolled poliovirus transmission in the north of this country.?