The 66th session of the World Health Organisation Regional Committee for Africa took off on Friday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with a strong commitment by the WHO to support Nigeria in eliminating polio from the country.
The Director General of WHO, Margaret Chan, in her speech at the opening ceremony recalled with admiration the feat recorded by Nigeria in celebrating two years of no single case of wild polio transmission, while regretting the two new cases of children paralyzed by polio in Borno State.
Chan said: “This set back in no way undermines the tremendous job done by the Nigerian Government in getting down to zero case.
“You will get there again.
“We will get the job done.”
Chan added that WHO will offer the necessary support to Nigeria in putting an end to polio.
She commended the efforts of the governments of the region in creating improved health access and reducing the disease burden despite the huge challenges the continent is facing.
These results, according to Chan, provides powerful evidence of what can be achieved in resource constrained settings and an equal powerful incentive for further investment in domestic and foreign resources.
According to Chan, the progress so far recorded in Africa provides a reason for optimism as the world moves into the era of Sustainable Development Goals.
She said Africa stands to benefit most from implementation of the SDG Agenda, especially since the alleviation of poverty is an overarching SDG objective as nothing holds back health development in the region as much as the full grip of poverty.
Earlier in her statement, the Regional Director, Africa, WHO, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, said there was a tremendous improvement in the way the region responds to emergencies.
Moeti said: “Although Africa faces multiple and complex disease outbreaks, timely detection and improved emergency response will help in tackling the challenge.”
She noted that the two new cases of wild polio virus recorded in Nigeria has called for more vigilance in the region, especially in the areas that were hitherto rendered inaccessible by security challenges.
She commended the prompt response by the Nigerian Government and welcomed the planned commencement of synchronized vaccination of the vulnerable population by the governments of Chad, Niger, Cameroon, Central Africa Republic and Nigeria scheduled for August 27, 2016.
The Nigerian Health Minister, Prof. Isaac Adewole, explained to newsmen after the opening of the meeting that Nigeria has declared polio a public health emergency and vaccination has begun in Borno State and two additional states will be included from August 22, 2016.
This will be followed by 18 other states