POLIO ERADICATION IN NIGERIA

According to Yehualashet, Horton, Mkanda, Vaz, Afolabi, Gashu, & Nsubuga, (2016, S101) failure in the program is attributed to the failure of the three categories namely Oral Polio Vaccine, failure to vaccinate, and epidemiology of the disease. Failure of the vaccination resulted from lack of political support, sporadic vaccine refusals in the country, poor performance by the concerned teams and suboptimal efficiency of OPV especially in some of the situations that required government intervention. However, some of the initiatives that helped bolster the program entailed formidable government accountability, altered type 2 OPV to the two way bi valent OPVs mostly for supplementary immunization initiatives. Yehualashet et al. , (2016, S101) argue that other factors included improved environmental surveillance in critical states such as Borno, Kano, and Sokoto.

Ever since the launch of polio immunization became known as Immunization Plus Days since the measures entailed normal polio vaccines alongside other health medications (Yehualashet et al. , 2016, S102). The intervention included vitamin A supplementation and the administration of drugs aimed at de-worming children. The initiative involved health care programs that enabled mothers to receive soaps in the door to door initiative. Such incentives encouraged mothers to avail their children for the vaccination, a move that was supported by the government too. Nigeria’s geographical coordinates are 11000’ N 8000’E. Two World Health Organization Polio Laboratories serve the over 30 states in Nigeria. They are located at the University of Maiduguri Hospital and the University of Ibadan. Target Population The Polio Eradication Initiative polio programs targeted children between the years 0 to 5 years.

Micro Planning Etsano (2016, 13) argue that during the initiation and planning of the IPDs, the NPHCDA declared the immunization dates. At the same time, it was alleged that the vaccine spread HIV and further caused poliomyelitis (Rutter, Hinman, Hegg, King, Sosler, Swezy & Cochi 2017, S287). Due to the boycott, polio spread to over thirty states across the Middles East, South Asia, and Africa. The resistance to the vaccination led to a worldwide health catastrophe that appeared politically instigated but operational in terms of religion. According to Etsano (2016, 31) after the much-publicized campaign, many parents refused the vaccination with high ranking health officials from both the government and WHO intervening but met resistance from the public (Premji et a. Out of all the immunization exercise and campaign, IPDs was carried out from door to door with RIs carried out at the health facilities.

However, other cases on the same were considered as genetically related. Of all the serotypes of the health condition in the country, the most prevalent were two out of the 11 reported high-risk states in northern Nigeria. WP3 was noted to persist in the central and northern states of the country. Funding, political commitment, and poor resource allocation have faced gaps due to interference by both politicians and traditional groupings. At the same time, there have been instances of poor accountability at numerous levels and poor performances by team members. The figure below indicates the percentage of non-compliance of the vaccination in various states, a situation that has seen increased polio cases in the said states. Source: https://academic. oup. com/jid/article/216/suppl_1/S250/3935064 Participation of Traditional Leaders In the year 2014, traditional leaders, especially from the Northern parts of the country, were involved and their part in the entire exercise was attributed to the 85 per cent reduction in the poliomyelitis cases.

Reduction in the cases by 85 per cent from the total of 400 in the year 2012 to 60 in the year 2014 and 86 in 2016; of cVDPV2 viruses especially in risky regions in the year, 2014 compared to the year 2012 (Premji et al. The concerted efforts have denoted that many of the infections in the children remain unimmunized or missed to get the immunization that included three doses of the medication. Major reasons that pointed to the missed vaccination in the children majorly included absent children from homes, not visiting houses, non-compliance, and total rejection of the vaccination. Other reasons included sick children who could not receive the vaccine, doubts by the locals on the safety of the vaccine, religious beliefs, in addition to a large expansive area to cover that the health officials failed to achieve.

According to the WHO, 30 per cent of those who failed to comply had no reason to do so and a paltry 12 per cent doubted the truth behind the vaccine. The indication shows that a large number of parents continue rejecting the vaccine especially due to the much hype and propaganda spread in the early period of the campaign that centred on religious beliefs and negative perception about the vaccine (Rutter et al. Currently, Katsina with 30 cases has the highest number of reported polio cases globally. In the year 2013, Jigawa, Kano, and Borno led with over 68 per cent of polio registered cases. In general, the high rate of non-compliance especially in the high-risk regions remained significantly dissimilar (Rutter et al. It’s possible to hypothesize that, non-compliance of the vaccination is thus far sufficiently tackled in tandem with the report dabbed the Expert Review Committee on the elimination of polio in the country (Yehualashet et al.

, 2016, S105). Another key factor that has given the exercise a bad face and poor vaccine achievement in the country is reduced participation by LGAs, HRS, Chairmen, and governors. The reduction in such commitment of an exercise of such magnitude has had a negative impact on the campaign with increased reported cases of poliovirus transmission especially in the Northern states of the country. According to Bassey B. (2016, 149), the involvement of traditional leaders in the Northern States, especially during the year 2012 up to 2016, remained wanting with lowly and reduced participation. The resulting effect according to the World Health Organization was the increased exceptional 89 per cent reduction in the new cases. The ever-present and continued spread of propaganda that has given rise to non-compliance in several states can be tackled by way of aggressive local campaigns from the grassroots level to increase public participation.

Recent linkages and cooperation between various public offices and the health department especially in states such as Kano is a positive initiative to the realization of a comprehensive approach to solving the continued deadlock between the vaccinators and the locals in achieving the targets set by the World Health Organization. References Bassey, B. E. , Vaz, R. https://www. sciencedirect. com/science/article/pii/S0033350616300695 Etsano, A. Environmental isolation of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus after interruption of wild poliovirus transmission—Nigeria, 2016.  MMWR. https://www. sciencedirect. com/science/article/pii/S0264410X1500506X Michael, C. A. , Waziri, N. Polio legacy in action: using the polio eradication infrastructure for measles elimination in Nigeria—the national stop transmission of polio program.  The Journal of Infectious Diseases, 216(suppl_1), pp.