By Perpetua Onuegbu
Rotary International President, Francesco Arezzo, has called for immunisation of 97 per cent of children under five years to achieve total eradication of polio in the world.
Arezzo made the call at a news conference on Wednesday in Abuja, after receiving briefing from the Nigerian National PolioPlus Committee (NNPPC) Chairman, Mr Joshua Hassan, on the country’s polio eradication efforts.
While stating that maintaining high vaccination coverage remained critical, he considered immunising 90 to 97 per cent of children under five years as essential to achieving total eradication of the disease.
The Rotary international president hailed Africa’s certification as a polio-free continent as a historic achievement, while calling for renewed commitment to completely eradicating the disease worldwide.
“At the time, Africa was considered one of the most difficult regions to eliminate polio, while India was widely regarded as ‘impossible’.
“However, through sustained collaboration and commitment, both regions overcame the odds. In 2020, Africa was officially declared polio-free,” he said.
Arezzo, however, noted that in spite of the progress, polio still remained endemic in Afghanistan and Pakistan, though with the virus now confined to small regions.
He quoted reports as showing that Nigeria and other countries had also recorded cases of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus, but encouragingly, the numbers were declining.
The Rotary international president attributed the improvement partly to the introduction of a more stable vaccine in recent years, which reduced the risk of virus mutations that could occur in areas with low immunisation coverage.
He, however, said that the campaign had come at a heavy cost, stating that 76 people involved in vaccination efforts in Nigeria lost their lives between 2012 and 2025.
“In Pakistan, 382 vaccination workers have been killed. These are tragic sacrifices that must not be in vain. We have to honour their memory by finishing this campaign,” he said.
Arezzo also identified community resistance and misinformation as major challenges to the eradication of the disease.
He called for strengthening of engagements with religious and traditional leaders as well as social media influencers to counter disinformation and encourage compliance, particularly among populations that relied heavily on mobile phones for information.
He added that now that a more stable vaccine had been developed, coupled with a high level of vaccination, the world could now be rid of the virus.
“So my only call to action is to work together and maintain a rate of immunisation of over 90 per cent of the children in all countries of the world until we finish the campaign,” he said.
Earlier, the NNPPC Chair, Joshua Hassan, said that the group had carried advocacy to governments at various levels, traditional and religious leaders, influencers and other stakeholders to help spread the benefits of polio vaccination.
Hassan said that the group got a lot of support from stakeholders, which had led to the near total eradication of polio disease in the country.
He, however, noted that challenges were still being faced in some states due to insecurity, such as banditry and kidnapping and also difficulty in identification of nomadic routes.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that as part of the event, the Rotary International president visited the primary health clinic in Area 2, Abuja, where he and some past district governors and the District Governor of 9127, Dame Joy Okoro, carried out symbolic immunisation of babies.
NAN reports that this was one of the events planned for his tour of the country.
Speaking after the immunization, Arezzo said “For us, it’s always a great emotion to give the two drops in the mouth of children, because each child that we vaccinate is one child that will be safe from polio.
“This is, for us, the great result that we are looking for. We don’t ask better than to immunise a child, because each of these vaccines is a step toward the eradication of polio.”
On her part, Okoro expressed happiness that they were not left out.
“We are still fighting polio to make sure that the polio virus is totally eradicated in Nigeria.
“Of course, we’ve been certified polio free, but we are having children every now and then. So the fight is still on. We still have to be going to the field and show our presence at all times,” she said.
The Matron, Primary Health Clinic, Mrs Deborah Anyanwu, commended members of the organisation for their efforts in eradicating polio in the country.
“They’ve helped in making mothers to bring out their children every time to be immunised.
“As they came today, we can see mothers from all over the place. They are around to see that their children are immunised and I commend them for that.
“We’re continuing the advocacy; we’re continuing the sensitisation and giving health talk to let them know that actually, the polio vaccines are really working.
“So our own is just to continue to advise them, to continue to make sure that they bring their children for immunisation,” Anyanwu said.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
Edited by ‘Wale Sadeeq
