Cameroon and Nigeria Declared Polio Free
A female health official tries to drop a polio vaccine into the mouth of a child at Kaiama town, 16 May 2005 in Bayelsa State. AFP PHOTO/PIUS UTOMI EKPEI
Nigeria and Cameroun have been successful to eradicate Polio in their various countries.
Both countries were certified Polio free by the World Health Organization after successfully eradicating the crippling disease that usually affects children under the age of 5.
The UN health agency is expected to formally present Nigeria with a certificate and also declare Africa free of the wild poliovirus.
Nigeria’s head of primary health care agency Dr. Faisal Shuaib described the achievement as a “proud moment for us and indeed all Nigerians”.
Cameroon’s Health Minister Malachie Manaouda had on Wednesday announced that the country had been certified free of polio.
Health experts in the country welcomed the development but urged caution.
For a country to be declared polio-free it must ensure high immunization coverage and prove there have been no transmissions for at least three consecutive years.
It should also maintain surveillance and outbreak preparedness system.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan and Pakistan are now the only countries with cases of the wild poliovirus.
Ayooluwa Joshua