Polio: FG unveils measures to stop disease importation

As part of efforts to ensure that there are no importations of the wild poliovirus into the country, the Federal Government yesterday disclosed that it has reconstituted the Expert Review Committee on Polio Eradication and Routine Immunization (ERC).

Recall that Malawi recently declared an outbreak of polio after a young child in the country’s capital, Lilongwe, developed the disease in the first case of polio in Africa in more than five years.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) in a statement linked the strain found in the child in Malawi to the one circulating in Pakistan where the virus remains endemic. Pakistan and Afghanistan remain the two countries endemic with the wild poliovirus.

According to a statement by the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Faisal Shuaib, the ERC will provide expert advice and guidance on strategies and approaches for polio eradication and routine immunization.

“Following the recent outbreak of the Wild Polio Virus (WPV) in Malawi, the Federal Government has put measures in place to safeguard the country against the importation of the virus. One of such measures is the reactivation and reconstitution of the Expert Review Committee on Polio Eradication and Routine Immunization (ERC).

“The committee meets periodically to review the country’s polio eradication and routine immunization programmes taking into consideration population-based and laboratory studies, programmatic approaches, cost information, and other issues so as to provide holistic and practical advice to the country. The ERC’s expert advice contributed immensely to the country’s achievement of WPV-free status in August 2020.

“Consequently, it has become imperative to reactivate the committee following the recent outbreak of WPV in Malawi and the outbreaks of circulating variant of poliovirus type 2 (cVPV2) in Nigeria. The ERC is expected to work with the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency to come up with multi-stakeholder plans to strengthen surveillance, build population immunity, mitigate against and control all forms of polioviruses.

“The reconstituted 12-member expert committee chaired by a public health expert, Prof. Akin Osibogun has members drawn from the academia, the media, donors, and development partners including WHO, CDC, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Members include Prof Dorothy Esangbedo, Prof Shuaib Bello, Prof Clara Ejembi, Prof  Sade Ogunsola, Prof B.S.C. Uzochukwu, Prof Ilayisu Zubairu, Dr. Muhammad Dallatu, Mr. Mannir Dan Ali, Dr. Steve Cochi (CDC), Mr. Aidan O’Leary (WHO), and Jay Wenger (BMGF).

“The reconstituted ERC has a renewable tenure of two years and will be inaugurated at a date to be announced soon,” he said.

Nigeria was declared wild polio virus-free on August 25, 2020, by the Africa Regional Certification Commission for polio eradication (ARCC) of the World Health Organization.