Polio-Free Africa

A milestone in a journey to achieve global polio eradication was recorded in Nigeria and, indeed, the whole of Africa, on August 24, this year, when the World Health Organisation (WHO) certified the country and the entire region free from the deadly virus. 
With this historic milestone, five of the WHO regions, representing over 90 percent of the world’s population, are now free of the wild poliovirus. 
Nigeria, in particular, attained polio-free status on June 18, this year, for the first time, after four consecutive years of not recording any outbreak of the endemic. The country last recorded a case of wild poliovirus in 2016.
The certification of Africa, two weeks ago, is therefore, an important public health milestone for Nigeria and the entire African region. The landmark also brings the world one major step closer to achieving global polio eradication, notwithstanding that the disease is still endemic in Eastern Mediterranean countries of Pakistan and Afghanistan. 
Polio is a viral disease that is transmitted from person to person, mainly through a faecal-oral route or, less frequently, through contaminated water or food, and multiplies inside the intestines. 
While there is no known cure yet for polio, the disease can be prevented through administration of a simple and effective vaccine. That is why efforts are made across every country to rapidly boost immunity levels in children and protect them from polio paralysis.  
We recall that as recently as 2012, Nigeria accounted for more than half of all polio cases worldwide, according to WHO. At the time, more than 350,000 children were paralysed every year, in more than 125 endemic countries. 
With the efforts by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), UNICEF, Rotary International, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, USAID, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, and other volunteers, the incidence of polio was reduced by more than 99 percent globally. In Nigeria, more than 200,000 volunteers across the country repeatedly immunized more than 45 million children under the age of five, to ensure that no child would suffer from this paralysing disease. Today, only two countries: Pakistan and Afghanistan remain in the endemic list of poliovirus.
The Tide acknowledges the milestone recorded by Nigeria and indeed, the entire Africa, in the fight against polio, but also wants to emphasise the need for vigilance, “one which we must delicately manage with cautious euphoria”, as the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuaib, once put it. 
We note that this historic achievement in global health would certainly not have been possible without the novel strategies adopted in the consistent fight against polio and other vaccine preventable diseases. We commend the strong domestic and global financing and the commitment of governments at all levels towards achieving this feat. 
The Tide congratulates the governments of the 47 countries in the WHO African region for this incredible feat. We also commend health workers, community volunteers, traditional and religious leaders and parents across the region for their efforts and collaboration in kicking wild polio out of Africa. 
Despite this milestone, we urge African governments at all levels not to rest on their oars. We urge that the innovation, partnership, resolve and commitments that underpin this feat should continue. Continued commitment and resolve to reach every last child in the continent with the polio vaccine, as well as strengthening surveillance and routine immunization across the region will be key to keeping wild polio at bay, protecting the gains achieved and tackling the spread of Type 2 circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV2) which is present in 16 countries in the region. 
We also call on all governments of the WHO regions and donors to remain vigilant against all forms of polio. This is because, until every strain of polio is eradicated worldwide, the progress made against the paralysing pathogen will be in jeopardy. Therefore, immunization and surveillance activities must continue to rapidly detect a potential re-introduction or re-emergence of the virus. 
The outstanding commitment and efforts that got Africa off the endemic list must continue, to keep the world polio-free. Efforts should also be made towards getting Pakistan and Afghanistan off the hook of the deadly disease in order to achieve a polio-free world. 
The certification of African region as wild poliovirus free is a sign of hope that progress can be achieved through collaboration and perseverance. This milestone in the fight against polio indeed bears eloquent testimony to the fact that when governments, leaders, partners, health workers and communities come together, we can triumph over the most difficult health challenges. 
As the African continent and indeed, the world, grapple with the scourge of COVID-19, we recommend this collective, regional consciousness and efforts in other areas of public health, especially malaria that has continued to defile total eradication across the globe.