The Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency(NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuaib, has said that there are has been drastic reductions in donor funding for the fight against polio in Nigeria.
Faisal said this in his remarks at the 2nd Quater Meeting of the Nothern Traditional Leaders Committee on Primary Health Care Delivery (NTLC) on Monday in Abuja.
Faisal who was represented by the Director of Primary Health Care System Development, Dr Usman Adamu said the reduction in donor funding will make the agency rely on the traditional rulers to influence political leaders on the need to continue to fund Polio outbreak response campaigns.
Faisal said although Nigeria has been certified Wild Polio Viruses (WPV) free by the Africa Regional Certification Commission (ARCC), however, there are cases of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) in some states, hence the need for the country to jealously guard WPV-Free status and stop the cVDPV2 transmission in the communities.
“As of today, we have cVDPV2 outbreaks in Abia, Bayelsa, Borno, Delta, FCT, Jigawa, Kano, Kebbi, Lagos, Niger, Rivers, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara and we have conducted four OBRs using the Novelle Oral Polio Vaccine which is a preferred choice as it doesn’t seed the virus.
“However, sub-optimal performance has been recorded in all the States due to a high number of missed children during the OBR. This poor quality will affect how we are able to bring this outbreak under control.”
Faisal solicited more support from the traditional ruler in mobilising people for the Outbreak Response (OBR) campaign and other subsequent rounds of the vaccination.
“I deeply appreciate your efforts in curbing the spread of COVID-19 in Nigeria, especially at the Community level.
“During the vaccination roll-out, advocacy visits were made to some Emirs, sensitization meetings were also held to empower the traditional leaders with the right information about the vaccines.”
“Your demonstration of leadership by example by being vaccinated publicly has contributed in no small measure to our successful phase 1 COVID-19 vaccination roll-out which is formally closing today.
“There have been reports of cases of vaccine hesitancy across the States and one of the community engagement strategies we have initiated to mitigate this challenge is the conduct of Town Hall Meetings to address concerns of the public and increase uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine.
“This is to improve community knowledge of the facts and benefits of COVID-19 vaccination and to enhance community ownership and participation in the COVID-19 vaccination campaign.”
“I am optimistic that with your concerted support in promoting COVID-19 vaccination in and outside your domain, Nigeria will rapidly achieve hard immunity so we can all return to our normal way of life.”
“We once again solicit your continued support for primary health care generally with special focus on RI and maternal and child health interventions. On our part, we will continue to evolve strategies to improve and strengthen primary health care for the benefit of all Nigerians.”
Earlier, the Emir of Argungu, His Highness, Alhaji Samaila Muhammed Mera who is the Chairman of the Northern Traditional Leaders Committee on Immunization and Primary Health Care, in his opening remarks said Nigeria is not out of the woods as cases of CVDPV2 continue to spread even in states that have been polio-free for nearly seven years.
“Added to this is the scourge of Covid 19 and the challenges of educating our people enough to create demand and acceptance for the vaccine.”
“Lest we forget, RI coverage is very poor and cases of maternal mortality are still unacceptably high in our community”.
“I am encouraged and proud of the action taken by some members of the traditional institution especially from this committee who presented themselves publicly to be vaccinated.”
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