Group donates N8 billion towards polio eradication

The fight against polio in 10 countries jut got received a huge boost from the Rotary club as the group has donated the sum of $40.3 (about N8 billion) towards fighting the condition.

The group made the donation to the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations International Children’s Emergency Funds (UNICEF) in Abuja for the eradication of Polio through immunization, surveillance and research activities in 10 countries.

This comes as Nigeria is on the recovery bend from the disease as the last recorded case in Nigeria occurred in Kano state on the 24th of July 2014.

Reports say if the current progress continues, WHO may remove Nigeria from the list of Polio endemic countries as early as September.

However, experts have strongly cautioned that it is too soon to fully celebrate since Nigeria needs to go an additional two years without recording any case of the disease to be certified free.

Asides Nigeria, there have also been no new cases of Polio recorded anywhere else in Africa since August 2014.

Pakistan and Afghanistan however continue to experience hurdles in polio eradication campaigns including inaccessibility of children and security.

Speaking on the global polio threat, the chair of Rotary’s international Polio plus committee, Mike MC. Govern disclosed that although there has been significant progress made against the disease, children remain at risk.