Chairman, Expert Review Committee on Polio
Eradication, Prof. Tomori Oyewole, said on Tuesday that no less than 101
million Nigerians were at risk in the event of possible outbreak of yellow
fever.
Oyewole, who is a virologist, said this in Abuja
on Tuesday during a stakeholders’ meeting on the preparation for mass
vaccination against yellow fever in high risk states in the country.
He said, “We are sitting on a tinderbox, if a
mass vaccination campaign is not implemented, it means we have a large number
of people who are vulnerable. ”
He said the warning became necessary due to the
recent outbreak of yellow fever in six districts of Cameroon bordering Cross
River State.
Oyewole added that that placed Nigeria at risk
because “it is the only country among 13 countries in West Africa yet to conduct
mass vaccination.”
He said the objective of the meeting was to
create adequate awareness among stakeholders on the risk of new outbreak of
yellow fever in Nigeria.
“Others include to adequately plan for yellow
fever mass vaccination campaign with a view to averting impending outbreak in
the country. And to intimate stakeholders with their roles and responsibilities
on the forthcoming mass vaccination campaign, ” Tomori said.
He urged the Federal Government to reverse the
trend of not manufacturing vaccine, adding that the country should not depend
on other countries for vaccine.
Oyewole called on the media to create more
awareness on the high risk of yellow fever.
“We should use our money in preventive methods
rather than looking for cure,” he said.
On the issue of polio, Tomori said if care was
not taken, the country would be the last to eradicate the virus in the world.
“The way we are going, if we are not careful,
Nigeria will be the last to eradicate polio,” he said.
Also speaking, Chief Consultant Epidemiologist,
Federal Ministry of Health Dr. Akin Oyemakinde, said an outbreak of that nature
would have dire consequences on the county’s health system.
Oyemakinde said 377 local government areas in 25
states had been marked out as high risk areas, which, he noted, indicated an
assessment survey of the country.
He said the states were Anambra, Bauchi, Benue,
Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ekiti, Enugu, Imo, Kaduna, Katsina, Lagos, Niger,
Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Sokoto, Edo, Taraba, Yobe, Ebonyi, Kwara and
Kano.
Oyemakinde said that there has not been a mass
vaccination campaign in the past 30 years.
“The last vaccination was after an outbreak that
lasted eight years resulting in 20,000 cases which killed more than 5,000
people.
“The mathematical models used in assessing
Nigeria’s situation suggest an urban area like Lagos could see up to 4.5
million cases along with 128,000 deaths.
“This requires millions of vaccine doses, which
will take considerable time to produce.
“And there will be potential of Nigeria exporting
yellow fever to other countries,” he said.
He said millions of people currently had no
protection against yellow fever virus, leaving herd immunity low around the
country.
Oyemakinde said the mass vaccination programme
would start in 2013, saying it would take up to five years to complete because
of the country’s size.
“The experts meeting to plan Nigeria’s mass
vaccination programme are certain that combining routine immunisation with mass
vaccination is a better option,” he said.
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