Moves to stamp out wild polio virus

Nigeria is to conduct an immunisation campaign between 20 and 26 October in order to contain the incidence of wild polio virus in the country, officials said on Thursday. The campaign, known as sub-national immunisation days (SNID), which has partners including the World Health Organisation (WHO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and Rotary International will target 16 of the country's 36 states. Most are in northern Nigeria, where cases of the wild polio virus have been reported, or other places where there is low immunisation coverage. They include Bauchi, Benue, Borno, the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina and Kebbi states. Others are Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara states. Akwa Ibom in the southeast and Lagos in the southwest will also be covered by the SNID. A total of 23.64 million doses have been allocated for an identified target population of 21.49 million children under five years old, according to an official document made available to IRIN. The SNID will be conducted with support from the federal, state and local governments. Nigeria is one of 10 countries around the world where cases of the wild polio virus continue to be reported. Others are Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, and Pakistan, and two of Nigeria's neighbours - Niger to the north and Benin to the west. A synchronised immunisation exercise along Nigeria's borders with both countries has been planned with the police and immigration authorities of the three countries. "The purpose of the SNIDs is to narrow down and concentrate efforts and resources to interrupt transmission of the wild polio virus," Yanda Mohammed, who is in charge of health in central region Kwara State told journalists last week. The Nigerian government, in collaboration with UNICEF and other partners, began NID campaigns for the eradication of polio in 1996. SNIDs were introduced in 1999 to boost the campaign. Both campaigns recorded their biggest success yet in 2000, with a coverage rate of 108 percent. Some 42.25 million children under five years were covered in two rounds of NIDs and SNIDs held in six states against a projected figure of 42.06 million. A target date of 2002 has been set for the eradication of polio in Nigeria. A formal launch of the National Immunisation Days for countries of the Economic Community of West African State (ECOWAS) states took place in Sierra Leone on Friday. Sierra Leone's President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah attended the ceremony at Lungi, just north of the capital Freetown, along with UN officials and health officials from the region.