16th October, 2012
President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has restated his unwavering commitment to the total eradication of the wild polio virus from Nigeria.
President Jonathan was speaking after he received a briefing from the Presidential Task Force on Polio Eradication, presented by the Minister of State for Health, Dr. Mohammed Ali Pate, at State House, Tuesday.
“I do not want any political leader to hand over polio to his successor in 2015, and I am fully committed to oversee the total eradication of the polio virus from Nigeria”, he stated. He said State Governors and Local Government Chairmen must take direct personal responsibility for the eradication because, “it is basically a primary health care issue”, adding however, that he was ready to visit the local governments still harbouring polio, as part of the effort to end it in Nigeria.
President Jonathan said lack of funds could not be an excuse for failure, just as population size could not be an obstacle, since India, with about 1 billion people had successfully eradicated the disease.
The President commended the strong support for the immunisation efforts by the nation’s traditional rulers, and assured them that the Federal Government would not relent in the fight to eradicate polio from Nigeria.
Responding to proposals for legislation to check non-compliance with the immunisation days, President Jonathan said more attention should be paid to advocacy, because legislation had failed to help end health problems such as female genital mutilation.
In a presentation titled, “Last Frontiers of Polio Eradication in Nigeria”, Dr. Mohammed Ali Pate, Minister of State for Health, said there was a concerted effort to halt polio in Nigeria, pointing to improving immunity in 94% of the country’s local governments.
Also speaking at the briefing, Governors or their representatives from Borno, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Sokoto, Yobe, Zamfara and Bauchi States committed themselves to eradicating polio from their states by December 2013, pledging to work with all stakeholders to achieve the target.
Also at the meeting, representatives of donor agencies commended the commitment of President Jonathan to the eradication of polio in Nigeria and expressed support for the effort.
The meeting was also attended by Commissioners of Health, Local Government Chairpersons and traditional rulers from polio-endemic states.
Also today, President Goodluck Jonathan said that he will commit $33.4 million over the next four years for the procurement of medicines and other devices that will help the country prevent at least a million deaths of women and children by the year 2015. He was speaking while launching Save One Million Lives Programme.
The national programme aimed at saving one million lives by 2015 through equitable increasing access to and utilisation of quality cost-effective basic health services and commodities is in line with the United Nations report which listed 13 commodities that could save about 16 million lives.
The President said the launch of the programme in Nigeria is indication of the commitment of his administration to enhanced access to life saving commodities for women and children and improvement on health for all. President Jonathan said Nigeria has been able to tackle diseases that account for over 50 per cent of child mortality in the country with the support of its development partners.
The President also challenged all African countries to ensure the implementation of the plans and recommendations that will impact on the vulnerable segments of the population.
Ban Ki Moon, the United Nations Secretary General has recently criticised the inequitable access to life saving medicines and health supplies encountered by women and children around the world and called on the global community to work together to save at least 16 million lives by 2015.