As Nigeria joined the rest of the world to mark this year’s World Polio Day, the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) said that 83 cases of circulating variant poliovirus type 2 (cVPV2) were recorded across 14 states.
The agency said that 64 of the 83 cases were Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) cases, while 19 were found in Environmental Sites (ES).
The executive director of the NPHCDA, Dr Muyi Aina, disclosed this at a press briefing in commemoration of the 2024 World Polio Day, themed “A Chance for Reflection and a Reminder to Reach Every Child.” The briefing noted that the figure represents a 35 per cent reduction in cases recorded within the same period in 2023.
However, he said there was still work to be done to stop the transmission of cVPV2 completely.
cVPV2 is another form of poliovirus that mutated over time and started spreading.
Nigeria successfully eradicated the wild poliovirus (WPV) and was declared WPV-free in 2020. The country remains WPV-free to this day, as no new case of WPV has been recorded since.
Meanwhile, in an attempt to close the immunisation gap in states where cVPV2 is being recorded, Dr Aina said that the agency initiated the Identify, Enumerate and Vaccinate (IEV) strategy to ensure accurate microplanning to enable them to track and vaccinate chronically missed children.
“We have commenced IEV in 109 very high-risk wards to improve the quality of Polio campaigns, and we have digitally enumerated 907,329 under five years old children, out of which we have tracked and vaccinated 793,075 children. We have also reached 67 per cent of previously unreached children across 14 States where we have conducted campaigns this year,” he explained.
