Federal Government has said between 2021 and 2022, the country witnessed 85 per cent decline in cases of circulating Vaccine Derived Polio Virus type 2 (cVDPV2).

On August 25, 2020, Nigeria was certified wild poliovirus (WPV) free by African Regional Commission for the Certification of Poliomyelitis Eradication (ARCC) of World Health Organisation (WHO).

But there have been cases of cVDPV2 reported in some parts.

WHO, through its Country Representative, Dr. Walter Mulombo, hailed the government and called for increased efforts in addressing the residual risk of re-upsurge of cVDPV2 in consequential geographies and improved surveillance.

Speaking during the 39th meeting of Expert Review Committee (ERC) on Polio and Routine Immunisation, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Faisal Shuaib, said: “Today, we want to finalise and fine-tune those plans to make sure that by end of 2023, we will have eradicated every single form of polio, whether it is circulating variants or wild polio viruses, as we spent six years without it.

“We are not completely free of polio until every single type of polio is eradicated from Nigeria.

“One thing we have seen in last few months is that states are working hard. In the last outbreak’s response, we saw states that did well, such as Edo, Ekiti, Kwara, Lagos, Oyo, Osun, Ondo; all did well in terms of response to outbreak of cVDPV2.”

Chairman of ERC on Polio and Routine Immunisation, Prof. Akin Osibogun, said: “With support of government and partners, and all levels – national and state – we have been making progress.

“There has been an 85 per cent drop in the incidence of cVDPV2. We are getting close to achieving the goal of eradicating cVDPV2 in Nigeria.

“Of course, wild polio has been eradicated. The challenge will be to continue to harness available resources as we zero in on our goal.

“We also need to focus on strategies we have adopted, including strengthening routine embolisation and strengthening primary health care system and improving our surveillance capability.”