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Fred Ezeh, Abuja
The World Health Organisation (WHO) will, today, present a certificate of polio-free country to Nigeria.
The certificate will be presented by a delegation from WHO to President Muhammadu Buhari in a virtual event billed for the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
On June 18, WHO certified Nigeria a polio free country, after three consecutive years of no record of outbreak of the disease. The process of certification which commenced few months ago culminated in the complete documentation by officials of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), and was accepted by the World Health Organisation team.
WHO Nigeria Country office, had in a tweet, confirmed that Nigeria’s complete documentation for wild polio virus free status was accepted by the Africa Regional Certification Commission for polio eradication (ARCC).
Chairman, Nigeria National Polioplus, Dr. Tunji Funsho, in a reaction to the development congratulated Nigerians and the Federal Government for the feat. He, however, said the fight was not over as more effort was required to ensure more people have access to vaccination which will permanently put an end to polio in Nigeria.
He lauded efforts of local and international partners, particularly the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Bill and Melinda Gate, UNICEF, WHO and several others for their financial and logistics contributions to the success of the programme.
