FIFTY-ONE new cases of Circulating Variant Polio Virus (cVPV2) have been detected in Nigeria.
According to the World Health Organization WHO, these cases were discovered between January and August 13 2023 with the North-West zone accounting for 92 percent of the new cases.
Spanning 15 local government areas, 47 of the cases are from states in the North-West zone that are facing security challenges, a situation that has now become a major concern for all stakeholders in the health sector.
WHO Country Representative in Nigeria, Dr Walter Mulombo, made this known on Thursday, during a strategic meeting in Kaduna State organised by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) in collaboration with the Sultan Foundation for traditional leaders of inaccessible communities in the North-West zone.
The meeting with traditional leaders of inaccessible areas in six states in the North-West zone of Kaduna, Kebbi, Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina, and Kano States.
The WHO said that 47 out of the 51 polio cases were from the North-West, adding that a majority of the outbreaks were from states facing security challenges in the region, causing setbacks to the country’s attainment of universal health coverage.
The protracted security challenges in the North-West zone, exacerbated by bandits and kidnappers, have led to the breakdown of a health system already experiencing years of neglect and underfunding, affecting the effective delivery of health services, including routine immunisation for children.
Mulombo lamented to the traditional rulers, how insecurity has hindered access to health services in the North-West zone, thereby leading to a high rate of maternal and infant mortality in the zone.
