Tuesday 16 August 2016

The World Health Organization, WHO expresses disapproval over new polio cases in Nigeria.



The World Health Organization, WHO has expressed concern over new cases of polio in nigeria. According to Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the Organization's Regional Director for Africa while reacting to this, said: "We are deeply saddened by the news that two Nigerian children have been paralyzed by polio. The Government has made significant strides to stop this paralyzing disease in recent years.
Image result for picture of new polio case in nigeria"The overriding priority now is to rapidly immunize all children around the affected area and ensure that no other children succumb to this terrible disease."

Director of polio eradication at WHO Headquarters, Dr. Michel Zaffran, was also quoted as saying: "We are confident that with a swift response and strong collaboration with the Nigerian Government, we can soon rid the country of polio once and for all. This is an important reminder that the world cannot afford to be complacent as we are on the brink of polio eradication - we will only be done when the entire world has been certified polio-free."
According to WHO, the pattern of the virus suggests a close link to  to a wild poliovirus strain. The strain was last detected in Borno in 2011.

In 2012, it was said that Nigeria accounted for more than half of all polio cases worldwide, however a huge progress was made after then through the combined effort of the government, religious leaders and the health workers as the country recently marked two years without the case of polio.

Increased effort through the establishment of more Emergency Operations Centers at the national and state level and the community involvement, also creating polio awareness will help combat the outbreak

 

Source: http://allafrica.com