Officer in Charge, World Health Organisation, Dr Clement Peter, said as the last polio endemic country in Africa, Nigeria passing three years without WPV case was a step towards certifying Africa WPV free by mid-2020.
Nigeria has achieved three years without a case of Wild Polio Virus since the last isolated case in Borno State on August 21, 2016.
Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr Faisal Shuaib, disclosed this during a briefing with journalists in Abuja on Wednesday.
Shuaib said the NPHCDA was acknowledging milestone for this great achievement, which kicks-in the process of attaining World Health Organisation certification of polio free nation by 2020.
He added that attaining three years without new case of WPV means that all the efforts and strategies of the government to end the circulation of WPV was working.
He said, “We need to collectively address the remaining challenges facing the programme, including the poor access to children in some parts of the country due to insecurity, poor health seeking behaviour of our people and vaccine hesitancy, among others.”
Officer in Charge, World Health Organisation, Dr Clement Peter, said as the last polio endemic country in Africa, Nigeria passing three years without WPV case was a step towards certifying Africa WPV free by mid-2020.
He added that following three-year mark, Nigeria has commenced the process of documentation towards the final certification by the Africa Regional Certification Commission.