We need to be vigilant for polio to be permanently eradicated – McInally
The President of Rotary International, Gordon R McInally, yesterday asked Nigeria 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 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 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: “One of the principal reasons for coming to see your President was to say thank you to him for everything that Nigeria has done in the field of polio eradication.
“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.
“But we have to remain vigilant. We cannot afford to let our guard down, we have to make sure that we continue the work to ensure that polio does not come back to places like Nigeria, to places in Africa, to places in other parts of the world as well.
“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.
“That is a cause for great celebration. But we must remain vigilant and we must carry on our polio campaign to ensure that we complete the job we started and to ensure that the entire world is free from the disease in the same way that Nigeria is at present.
“I am on record as dedicating my Presidency to making the world a better place for my two grandchildren; Ivy, age six, and Florence age three, but not just for those two children, but for all the children of the world and that includes the children right here in Nigeria.”
He said Rotary International has launched another $3m programme of Scale for safe
Mclnally added.
He said the programme has been on for women in the country in the last eighteen months.
He added: “We have a new project of scale here, which has a value of almost 3 million US dollars, that is working with pregnant women, encouraging them to have birth in safe clinics rather than at home, teaching them during their pregnancy about the importance of child care and already only 18 months into this project.
“We’ve seen an amazing reduction in both maternal mortality and also infant mortality. So it’s an exciting time to be here in Nigeria, and I’m thrilled to be here”, he said.
Asked if there is any challenge to the target of total eradication of wild-polio virus on earth, McInally said the virus has been largely routed from the face of the earth, except in a rather small space on the Afghan-Pakistani borders, where geography and mode of living have made reaching the people rather difficult.
“The main obstacles to eliminating wild-polio virus, which as I said, is now contained within a very small prescribed area on the Afghan-Pakistan border, are ones of geography, ones of the fact that many of the people we’re trying to reach live a nomadic existence, they move a lot.
“Of course, also we have rather adverse weather conditions in that part of the world as well. But we’re working through that and we’re working with the governments in both Pakistan and in Afghanistan to ensure that we reach every child, and by reaching every child, we can ensure that we will eliminate wild polio virus from that area and consequently, from the face of the earth”, he said.
He praised Rotarians in Nigeria fir their robust contributions to The Rotary Foundation (TRF)
“The final thing I would like to say is that I would like to say thank you to the members of Rotary here in Nigeria for their unfailing support of our Rotary Foundation.
“Our Rotary Foundation is our charitable arm that makes the grants, of which I have just referred, that makes the grants that ensure the eradication of polio, that makes grants that give children education, that makes grants that give people clean water, that gives grants that ensure our environment is improved”, he said.
