Nigeria makes crucial progress in eradicating Polio
A Glove and Mail article condensed by Bill Maule
On the edge of the war zone, near the territory of the murderous thugs of Boko Haram, the hit-and-run team waits patiently for the go-ahead from security forces. When the moment was right, the mobile units rushed into the war zone – not to attack, but in a frantic effort to vaccinate children against polio. A few hours later, they rushed back to safety.
Hit-and-run immunizations are just one of the extraordinary tactics in the campaign to eradicate the polio virus from one of its last havens. Now they are close to the goal – eliminating polio from Africa. Nigeria, always the final barrier to success, hasn’t had a single new polio case since July, and only a total of six cases in 2014, a dramatic 90 per-cent decline from 2013. This is crucial progress given that Nigeria has been the sole reservoir of the virus which then spread to other African countries. Thanks to foreign donors and new strict government policies supporting the campaign, Nigeria is closer than ever to become polio free, although it must go three years without new cases to be declared polio free. . Success in Nigeria will leave Pakistan and Afghanistan as the only countries where polio is endemic
How did Nigeria make such gains? Just a decade ago, the campaign was in serious trouble. Politicians and religious leaders spread rumors that the vaccine caused AIDS and infertility. Less than a year ago gunmen killed nine vaccination workers. But Nigeria has been among the major beneficiaries of Rotary and the Gates Foundation, spending billions of dollars in the fight. Thousands of teams fanned out across the country and governments demote or dismiss officials who disobey the strategy. Religious leaders have been recruited, ensuring that the worst rumors are dispelled.
Vaccination teams can no longer claim to have made more vaccinations than they actually performed. Now, they carry satellite devices which track their movements. If they miss a remote village they are sent back. They vaccinate in front of houses, rather than inside, so that supervisors can monitor their work.
Satellite mapping, and tougher accountability, have helped tremendously says Oyewale Tomori, president of the Nigerian Academy of Science. “We can check coverage in real time,” reducing falsification of data..
Now attention shifts to Pakistan and Afghanistan where polio is still endemic. There was a setback when the CIA used a fake vaccination campaign to search for Obama bin Laden. Since then, militants in Pakistan have killed dozens of anti-polio workers, and the number of new cases has jumped to its highest level in two decades. New cases have appeared in Iraq and Syria as a result of the Pakistan outbreak, and scattered cases have occurred in other places in Africa. But no cases of polio have been reported anywhere in Africa since August.
Despite the progress in Africa, there is no room for complacency. “We’ve been close to eradicating polio before, and then lost focus,” Dr. Tomori said. “I hope the politicians have learned their lesson and won’t make the same mistake. We must be more vigilant than ever.”