UNICEF Troubled As Two New Polio Cases Hit Nigeria
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Just two years after the last confirmed polio case was recorded in Nigeria, the World Health Organization, WHO, and Federal Government have confirmed two new cases of the virus in Borno State.
The resurgence of the poliovirus poses huge threats mostly among children who are already at the mercy of high levels of malnutrition in the conflict-ridden northern state of Nigeria, UNICEF reports.
The two cases were reportedly recorded in parts of Borno state that only recently became accessible.
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UNICEF noted that a large area of the north eastern state remains inaccessible.
The UNICEF Polio Eradication Director, Reza Hossaini, explaining why Nigeria has been greeted with the deadly diseases after it was declared free, said that the connection between insurgency and polio cannot be overemphasized.
“We cannot deny the connection between conflict and the continued threat of polio. The two new cases mean children across the Lake Chad region are now at particular risk. With our partners, we will not stop until we reach every child with polio vaccination,” he said.
Hossaini however said that Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Health has collaborated with WHO, UNICEF and partners of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative to provide emergency immunization campaign to curb the deadly infectious disease in Borno state so as to prevent its spread to other parts of the country.
