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The President of Rotary International, Gordon R McInally, yesterday asked Nigerians to be vigilant to ensure that polio does not find its way back into the country. He said in not too distant future the entire world will be certified polio free.
He said Rotary International has launched another $3m programme of Scale for safe child birth in Nigeria for the benefit of women.
McInally gave the warning while speaking with journalists at the State House, Abuja, after leading other members of the global organization to meet with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Nigeria was declared wild-polio free in June, 2019 by the World Health Organisation (WHO) African Region.
McInally said he was at the State House to thank President Tinubu for all the support the Rotary International had received from the Nigerian government.
He said: “We’re very excited that worldwide we are about to complete the polio eradication campaign and of course, polio was certified free from Nigeria five years ago in 2019.
“So my principal reason for being here is to say thank you to him for all the support that the government has given in the campaign, but also to recognize the wonderful work that’s being done at present between Rotary International and government agencies here in Nigeria on child and maternal health, working in the field, particularly in maternal and neonatal mortality”.
McInally gave insights into the efforts of Rotary International on polio Eradication world wide.
He said although about 30 years ago, about 350,000 cases of polio were globally recorded every year but in 2023, it has reduced to 12 cases
He said no Wild Polio casecase had been sighted in the last 20 weeks.
He added: “Polio eradication has been our flagship campaign for many years now and since the late 1980s, we have been working tirelessly to remove that crippling disease from the face of the earth. We did that in Nigeria, in 2019 and we all rejoiced when Nigeria was certified polio free.
“We will rejoice again and I hope in not too distant future when the entire world is certified polio free.
“30 years ago, there were more than 350,000 cases of polio every year. In 2023, there were only 12 cases of polio anywhere in the world and all 12 cases were in a very prescribed area on the Afghan-Pakistan border. Even more exciting is the fact that it is now 20 weeks since we saw a single case of wild polio anywhere in the world.
