Guardian

AS the fight against polio eradication continues in Borno State, 16 high-risk Local Government Areas have been targeted for the 2013 Special Round Polio Immunization Sensitizations (SRPIS) to kick out the wild polio virus from the state, the Commissioner of Health, Dr. Salma Anas-Kolo has disclosed.

The commissioner disclosed these at the flagging off of SRPIS in Maiduguri at the Fatima Ali Sheriff Hospital. She said even though seven cases of polio were recorded last year, there are 16 council areas that are “prone and high risk” to the polio virus among children below the age of five.

The high-risk council areas, she further disclosed, are in three Senatorial Districts, which comprise, Bama, Jere, Ngala, Mobbar, Monguno, Kaga, Bayo and Biu.

The other eight council areas, she added, are Shani, Gwoza and Damboa in South Borno senatorial district, while in the Central and North Senatorial districts, are Kala/Balge, Konduga, Dikwa, Mafa and Abadam, 287 kilometres north of Maiduguri, the state capital.

Speaking on the rehabilitation of polio victims, she said: “Our target was to rehabilitate 40 patients hit by the polio virus, but the Ministry of Health was able to identify 16, because some parents refused to release their affected children and wards for rehabilitation and correction of their limbs at the Abuja National Hospital.”

She said the 16 children had surgeries, and are undergoing physiotherapy at the State Specialist Hospital, Maiduguri, before they are re-admitted into schools to continue their education.

Governor Kashim Shettima in his remarks at the occasion said that polio is one of the seven-killer diseases that must be eradicated with “commitments and dedication” of stakeholders, traditional and religious leaders at all levels.

He, however, allayed the fears that the polio vaccine was not to affect the reproductive systems of women in Borno, noting that if the World Health Organisation (WHO), UNICEF and donor Western countries were to reduce the population of Nigeria, there are numerous other ways of depopulating the state or country.