Lagos, Ogun combine efforts to fight polio

The Lagos and Ogun States Governments have agreed to hold joint polio awareness days along the two states’ common borders on a rotational basis in order to overcome the identified weakness in the national polio eradication effort, the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, has disclosed.
 Idris, who spoke in Lagos today as part of plans and preparation for the first of such polio awareness days scheduled for Saturday, explained that a major activity during these joint outings on Saturday and another in May 2012 would be the immunization of children by the two states’governors at a border location and the health workers from both states thereafter immunizing along the common border and fanning into wards in their respective states.

Idris, according to a statement by the Public Relations Officer of the Lagos State Ministry of Health, Jide Lawal, said: “A weak link identified in the spread of polio is the border areas between states, as this provides opportunities for children to be missed during immunization campaigns. 
“Many times, a vast number of households are not covered usually due to either of the responsible local government authorities not accepting responsibility for immunizing them or non-capture of such border communities in the implementation micro plan. 
“The result has been that these ‘missed communities’ continue to provide reservoirs for the spread of polio.
“This symbolic immunization by the two governors for the third quarter campaign will also serve as the platform to flag-off the February 2012 National Immunization Plus Days scheduled for implementation on February 18-21, 2012 in the two states.”
Idris recalled that in the midst of the apparent reversal of the gains of year 2010 polio eradication initiative, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum last year resolved to consolidate efforts at completely eradicating the scourge of polio from the country and identified the Quarterly Governors’ Polio Awareness Day as one of the strategies to achieve this.
 He said: “it was proposed that each of these quarterly awareness days be dedicated to an interest group with its appropriate slogan.  
“You will recall that Lagos State participated in the first Quarterly Governors’ Polio Awareness Day which held on August 13, 2011 at Oshodi-Isolo local government area with the State Governor personally in attendance to demonstrate leadership.
“Therefore the third Quarterly Governors’ Polio Awareness Day scheduled for this Saturday has as its slogan, “Community Leaders Against Polio – CLAP”.  The slogan derives from the relevance of this important group in the success of the nation’s polio eradication effort.” 
 Idris opined that relevant stakeholders, including traditional, religious and community leaders of various Community Development Associations, politicians, market women, village health workers, school proprietors, private medical practitioners, traditional birth attendants, parents, caregivers and other relevant persons/groups have been identified and mobilized to attend the meeting holding at Akinde – Ologogoro Community within the areas of Ojokoro local council development area in Lagos State and Ado-Odo/Otta local government area in Ogun State in order to ensure its success.
While stressing that the most effective strategy of keeping polio out of Nigeria remains effective routine immunization, the commissioner averred that in this respect, the Lagos State Government has stepped up the revitalization of the Primary Health Care system in the state through improved infrastructure development to increase geographical access; recruitment of various cadres of staff needed; and the training and retraining of health workers especially on immunization techniques and on introduction of new vaccines into the national routine immunization schedule.
 He assured the people of both states that efforts are being made to address the issue of acute vaccine shortage experienced in the state in the past couple of months, a situation he attributed to the fact that only the federal government procures vaccines for routine immunization.
 The commissioner noted that Lagos State, on account of its strategic importance to Nigeria as the commercial and industrial nerve center of the nation and indeed the West African sub-region, cannot afford to be labeled a ‘polio state’, more so in its current giant stride to attaining a mega city status of international repute hence he called for the cooperation and support of all in achieving a polio free state status.