Unicef congratulates Nigeria on fight against polio

He said “If me, a paralyzed person can ride a bicycle from Accra to Kumasi on one leg and win global cycling competition, then no child with disability is useless, what such children need is attention and support”.

In addition, when the End Polio Now campaign first started in 1985, there were 1,000 reported cases of polio every day around the world. Visitwww.rnzwcs.org for more about Rotary and its efforts to eradicate polio. Significantly with the vaccines, Inactivated Polio Vaccine(IPV) and the Oral Polio Vaccine(OPV), given as an injection in the leg or arm, depending on age in the case of IPV and taken by mouth(orally) in the case of OPV, the eradication of the virus from the midst of humanity is already an established success. It is now largely confined to just two countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and the UAE is playing a key role in its full eradication. In September 2015 Type 2 (WPV2) was certified by World Health Organization as having been eradicated, while type 3 (WPV3) has not been detected since November 2012. It invades the nervous system and can cause total paralysis.

The two kilometer road walk to mark World Polio Day saw members of the Polio Survivors Group trekking from Old Parade Ground in Garki, Area 10, round an entire city block, a walk that lasted more than an hour, while police, the Federal Road Safety Corps and Civil Defence mounted security. A milestone was reached this year when Nigeria reported no polio cases over a one-year period. The Ministry of Health, being the executing agency of the Polio Emergency Programme, has the all-important responsibility of ensuring uninterrupted provision of resources. And if it does, polio will become the second human disease, following smallpox, to be wiped off the Earth and its eradication will be Sharif’s lasting legacy. A special tribute to parents, who overwhelmingly demand the service of vaccination, to all political parties, who have come together over this common goal of protecting the future of Pakistan and done their utmost to ensure children receive vaccination in their constituencies.

Your readers can support the fight to protect all children from polio by stopping by the Butte Wal-Mart on Saturday 24 October between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and make donations to “End Polio Now”.

The UNICEF and United Nations representative to Ghana, Dr. Prosper Tumusime, commended Ghana’s efforts in polio eradication initiative and achieving routine vaccination coverage of 90 per cent at national level over the years.

In his presentation, the Programme Manager of Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI), Dr George Bonsu, said the existence of the polio disease in countries such as Pakistan and Afghanistan remained a threat to children everywhere.