The Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank Group has approved $200 million to support polio eradication and immunisation of children under five years in Nigeria.
Oluwole Odutolu, the Leader of the bank’s Task Team for Polio Eradication Support Project, made this known in a statement released in Abuja on Monday.
Odutolu said the fund was sourced from the International Development Association and was an additional financing for final push to eradicate polio in the country.
He said the effort was also aimed at sustaining routine immunisation for children and women of reproductive age, adding that the programme was approved on Friday in Washington DC, US.
He said: “Eradicating polio is a global public good because of its epidemic potential and devastating impact on children and adults.
“Polio remains a lethal and crippling disease that is entirely preventable and ending it makes the world a safer place for all children.”
Odutolu disclosed that Nigeria was making significant progress towards polio eradication, with no new cases of polio virus reported since July 2014.
According to him, the disease surveillance system, even in insecure areas, continues to perform well.
He added: “This additional financing will build on the positive results of the original project approved in July, 2012, and help to sustain the gains achieved to date.
“This new financing for the Polio Eradication Support Project will assist Nigeria to increase and sustain the coverage of oral polio vaccine immunisation.
“With five more months of zero cases of Wild Polio Virus, Nigeria will have officially interrupted transmission of polio, which is a significant milestone toward eradication.”
The statement quoted Francoise Marie-Nelly, the Country Director of the World Bank in Nigeria, as saying the additional financing would also help to sustain the coverage of routine immunisation in the country.
Marie-Nelly maintained that the prevention of vaccine preventable-diseases was a major cause of under-five mortality in Nigeria.
She said: “Sustaining routine immunisation is critical to completing polio eradication and improving the health of children and mothers in Nigeria.
“The World Bank has been a proud partner with other global agencies in efforts to eradicate polio through the Global Polio Eradication Initiative and to strengthen routine immunisation.”
Tim Evans, the Senior Director for Health, Nutrition and Population of the World Bank Group, said with no new cases of polio in Africa, efforts to interrupt its transmission as part of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative was promising, the statement said.
“However, polio anywhere is a threat everywhere. As we reach the finish line in Nigeria, we must also focus on getting to zero new polio cases in Afghanistan and Pakistan,” Evans said.
According to the statement, Afghanistan and Pakistan are the two countries that have reported polio cases in 2015.
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