Press Release :: Polio Free Torch Campaign

The Federal Government with the support of the Polio Eradication Initiative partners launched a new communication campaign on 24th September, 2011 entitled Polio Free Torch Campaign.

Supported by the Nigerian Olympic Committee (NOC), this campaign is designed to mobilize wide support from a variety of stakeholders at national and state levels for the last lap of the polio eradication efforts in Nigeria.

As the world heads for the London 2012 Olympic Games, the Polio Free Torch illustrates the determination of the Nigerian Polio Eradication Initiative to make the year 2012 the last year that Nigeria witnesses a case of Polio.

PRESS RELEASE

Polio Situation In Nigeria - February 2012

KANO, NIGERIA, December 2011 - It is 10.00 a.m. at the health facility of Dawakin Tofa, one of the villages in Kano State with several polio cases this year. Outside of the health facility, a group of women – health educators, community mobilisers and vaccinators - are preparing to start a house-to-house polio immunization “mop-up” activity to reach every last child. Among this group, Ms. Hafsat, vaccinator, and her team were assigned to cover a remote village of Yansalmo, where block resistance to polio immunization by the community is still persisting.
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JIGAWA, NIGERIA, January 2012 - “The current upsurge of wild polio virus (WPV) in the state is an unfortunate and unacceptable state of affairs in the fight to eradicate polio not only to the state but to the global community, Jigawa state recorded a big score when the state was polio free for the last two years until in the first quarter of 2011, this not withstanding we will not relent on our efforts to the course of eradicating the disease”.
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Nigeria is one of the most entrenched reservoirs of wild poliovirus in the world. It is the only country with on-going transmission of all three serotypes: wild poliovirus type 1, wild poliovirus type 3, and circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2. Nigeria remains the only polio-endemic country in Africa. Already one (1) new case of wild poliovirus (WPV3) has been reported in January 2012 from Sokoto State. This is the first case of 2012 in Nigeria.

SEATTLE, JANUARY 2012 - Nigeria’s 36 Executive Governors and the Federal Capital Territory have signed up to the Nigeria Immunization Challenge launched by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation last year.
“Renewed political resolve and accountability are critical to stopping polio in Nigeria and we find it encouraging to witness both through the support expressed by every Executive Governor across the country for this initiative,” said Jeff Raikes, Chief Executive Officer of the Gates Foundation.
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Kaduna, 11th February 2012 - Kaduna State launches today the Polio Free Torch Campaign designed to overcome resistance to polio immunization and reinforce the commitment of all stakeholders to make Nigeria polio-free by the London Olympic Games in 2012. “Even though we have been free from polio since 2009, the fight against polio in Kaduna is not yet over. This is because Kaduna is surrounded by polio infected states, and there are still some resistance to polio immunization programmes,” H.E. Sir Ibrahim Patrick Yakowa, the Executive Governor of Kaduna State said during the ceremonial launch.

The Executive Governor of Kaduna State calls for renewed commitment of LGA Chairmen in the fight against polio

State House, 1st March 2012- President Goodluck Jonathan has inaugurated the Presidential Task Force on Eradication of Polio, in line with his pledge during the last Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Perth, Australia. Addressing members of the Task Force at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Thursday, March 1, President Goodluck Jonathan said government was increasing the funding for polio eradication in the country from its current funding of $17 million to $30 million and pledged to increase the funding in the future.

Nigeria continues to experience a surge of polio cases, following a dramatic reduction of cases in 2010. The country remains the only polio-endemic country in Africa.The Federal Government of Nigeria with the support of the Polio Eradication Initiative partners launched a new communication campaign entitled Polio Free Torch Campaign. Supported by the Nigerian Olympic Committee (NOC) and a number of past and current Nigerian Olympians, this campaign is designed to mobilize wide support from a variety of stakeholders at national and state levels for the last lap of the polio eradication efforts in Nigeria.

Abuja, 19 March 2012 - With the support of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), NPHCDA, UNICEF and PEI partners are starting to scale up a Volunteer Community Mobilizer Network targeting the most high-risk states – Kebbi, Kano and Sokoto by March and Zamfara, Jigawa, Borno, Katsina and Yobe by May 2012. This initiative is part of the Nigeria PEI Emergency Plan and will contribute to reducing the percentage of missed children through targeted interventions house-to-house to generate demand for and acceptance of oral polio vaccine.

Polio Eradication: over 2,150 Volunteer Community Mobilizers to be deployed in the most high-risk settlements

Abuja, 30 March 2012 - "Nigeria has the tools to improve quality, to reach and immunize every child and to eradicate polio. The challenge is to fully and consistently implement the National Polio Emergency Plan." This is the message delivered this week following the 23rd Expert Review Committee (ERC) meeting in Abuja. The ERC brings together global polio experts twice a year to review the status of the polio eradication programme in Nigeria, and put forward key recommendations for the Government and GPEI partners.
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MAIDUGURI, Nigeria, 5 April 2012 – “I want to call on our brothers and sisters… to lay down their arms and embrace peace and dialogue,” announced Kashim Shettima, the Governor of Borno State, at the state launch of the Polio Free Torch campaign in the city of Maiduguri. Borno State has lately been the site of ongoing violence. In August, 2011, an armed group bombed the United Nations House in Abuja, killing 22 people, and Maiduguri continues to witness attacks against police and government officials on a weekly basis.

Abuja (NIGERIA), 20th April 2012 - As of 13th of April 2012, already 20 new cases of wild poliovirus have been reported in eight states compared to nine cases for the same time period in four states in 2011. Polio-free State like Kaduna (since 2009) was re-infected in 2012. Nigeria remains the only polio-endemic country in Africa. With 62 WPV cases in 2011, the programme is addressing challenges in campaign quality whilst dealing with a deteriorating security situation. In key infected states (Borno, Kano, Sokoto, Yobe) more than one in three children has received less than four doses of Oral Polio Vaccine.

ABUJA (Nigeria), 3rd May 2012 – While the proportion of missed children has shown a slightly decreasing trend in the last three rounds of Immunization Plus Days: 8.0% in December, 7.8% in February and 7.8% in March, hundreds of thousands of children continue to be missed during polio immunization campaigns in Nigeria. According to the latest UNICEF data analysis, Kano has the highest percentage of missed children (9.8%) followed by Kebbi (9.7%) and Jigawa (8.5%). ‘Child absent’ remains the main reason for missed children, accounting for over 66% of the total number of missed children.

Hundreds of thousands of children continue to be missed during polio immunization campaigns in Nigeria

KEBBI (Nigeria), 7th May 2012 – Selected from their respective settlements (villages), 200 volunteer community mobilizers (covering 200 high risk settlements) are now fully operational in Kebbi State, in northern Nigeria. Their mission is to reduce the percentage of missed children through targeted house-to-house interventions to generate demand for and acceptance of oral polio vaccine.

Polio eradication: the volunteer community mobilizers network fully operational on the ground in Kebbi State, northern Nigeria

SOKOTO (Nigeria), 29 May 2012 - Inna Kanda, 40, is a vaccinator assigned to cover the village of Takalmsula, in the urban area of Sokoto State, in northern Nigeria. Mother of eight children, Inna is one of the well-appreciated vaccinators of her settlement, over the last three years.

Dr. Muhammad Ali Pate is Minister of State for Health in Nigeria. Dr. Christopher Elias is president of Global Development at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The views expressed in this article are solely those of Pate and Elias.
By Drs. Muhammad Ali Pate and Christopher Elias.

As a proud Nigerian footballer, I have scored many goals for my country. But there's one goal I still need to score—I want to help Nigeria kick polio out forever.

ABUJA (Nigeria), 18th June 2012 - Prior to May Immunization Plus Days, 613 Volunteer Community Mobilizers were fully operational in the States of Kano (366), Kebbi (200) and Sokoto (47), as part of the first phase of the initiative. These volunteers have started to identify and characterise chronically missed children and non-compliant parents through community friendly approach. They conducted house-to-house visits to linelist all children in their settlement. During the May Immunization Plus Days, they have assisted vaccination teams to track all non-compliance cases.

Polio eradication in Nigeria: Social data analysis reveals the impact of the Volunteer Community Mobilizers' work on the ground

KANO (Nigeria), 13 July 2012 - Kano State, northern Nigeria, is one of the highest risk states in the country, where more than one-third of all children still remain under-immunized. Along with other high-risk states, Kano embarked on a massive door-to-door polio immunization campaign between 7-10 July. Government, traditional and religious leaders, media, community health workers, and a wide range of stakeholders, collaborated to make this exercise a success.

KANO (Nigeria), 19 July 2012 - Mohammad Abdu Zango is the Chairman of the Journalists Initiative on Immunization against Polio – also known as JAP - in Kano State, Northern Nigeria. During the sub-national polio immunization campaign in July, he travelled from one local government to another reporting on the campaign’s progress.

ABUJA (Nigeria), 31 July 2012 - From 7-10 July, 2012, Nigeria conducted large-scale door-to-door polio immunization campaigns in the States of Bauchi, Borno, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger, Sokoto and Zamfara, targeting children under five years. Kaduna and Yobe States were forced to postpone their campaigns due to a deteriorating security situation.

Nigeria intensifies efforts to reduce the proportion of missed children during polio immunization campaigns

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