Stakeholders
in the fight to eradicate polio on Thursday had a marathon meeting in
Abuja with the Presidential Task Force on Polio Eradication and the
World Health Organisation.
They expressed their resolve and
commitment to ensuring that the disease is totally eradicated from the
country in 2013 despite the killing of nine vaccinators in Kano and a
similar incident in Borno State.
Also, at the meeting were families of polio vaccinators who were killed in Kano.
The chairman of PTFPE and Minster of
State for Health, Dr. Muhammad Pate; Regional Director of WHO, Louis
Sambo; and Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care
Development Agency, Dr. Ado Muhammad, stated this after a meeting on the
security threats in Abuja.
The minister said, “The President has
shown strong commitment to finish the work of eradicating polio in
Nigeria and the Federal government has condoled the families and the
states where such unfortunate incidents happened and we have come as a
task force to discuss and identify a way forward.
“We will continue to talk and explain to
our people the importance of getting our children immunised, the
protection that is needed for our health workers that are out there
doing very good work and to continue to encourage our health workers not
to be cowed into submitting to the effort of those who attack the
health workers.
“We know it is not easy, but we have to
realize that if we do not do anything, more children will be paralysed
and even die from preventable causes. It is unfortunate.”
Sambo assured the people that the WHO
and other partners in the polio eradication would remain committed to
ensuring that polio was totally eradicated in Nigeria in 2013.
He said, “Nigeria remains the only polio
endemic country in our region and WHO and other polio eradication
partners are very committed to work and support the effort government
and people of Nigeria to stop the circulation of polio virus in the
country.”
PUNCH
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