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PROGRESS TOWARDS POLIO ERADICATION IN NIGERIA, JANUARY 2013-SEPTEMBER 2014

Saturday, 22nd of November 2014

PROGRESS TOWARDS POLIO ERADICATION IN NIGERIA, JANUARY 2013-SEPTEMBER 2014

Excerpt below; full text is at http://www.who.int/wer/2014/wer8947.pdf?ua=1

 

. . . However, to sustain the current momentum, several remaining challenges will require continued attention. Despite meeting AFP surveillance performance indicators at national and subnational levels thus far in 2014, genomic sequencing analysis and continued detection of WPV1 in environmental surveillance strongly suggest that surveillance quality gaps remain at the subnational level, and these need to be addressed and corrected at the state and LGA level.

 

With the main focus on prioritizing interruption of WPV transmission and the predominant use of bOPV during the majority of SIAs conducted from January 2013 to September 2014, cVDPV2 incidence has increased. Two SIAs planned for the remainder of 2014 will use tOPV, and IPV will be added in highest risk LGAs in transmission zones in order to boost population immunity to levels needed to interrupt cVDPV2 transmission.

 

Some longstanding challenges to achieving polio eradication in Nigeria remain and new challenges have emerged. Though the proportion of children nationally who received all vaccines based on national age-specific recommendations has increased from 13% in 2003 to  25% in 2013 and OPV3 coverage has improved nationally, routine vaccination coverage has remained well below targeted coverage levels. The 11 high- risk states in particular have historically low coverage and will likely benefit from planned strategies to intensify routine vaccination, including a project which aims to increase coverage in vulnerable and underserved areas by delivering polio vaccine along with other interventions to prevent and treat childhood pneumonia, diarrhoea, malaria, and other vaccine-preventable diseases.

 

The strong political support from all levels of government for polio eradication will need to be sustained and intensified, particularly as issues of insecurity continue to restrict access to children during SIAs in areas where insurgent forces have taken control in Borno, Yobe, and northern Adamawa. Lastly, the emergence of widespread Ebola virus disease (EVD) throughout West Africa has put a strain on health-care infrastructure and personnel across the region. The recent EVD outbreak in Nigeria was successfully interrupted in part because the polio eradication response infrastructure was used; in particular, members of the Nigeria Polio Emergency Operations Center were deployed to coordinate the multi-agency Ebola response.

 

By continuing to actively manage and address ongoing challenges, and in view of the recent progress towards polio eradication in Nigeria and in outbreak countries, and the success in containing EVD spread within the country, achievement of a WPV-free African continent in the near future is possible.