Guardian

SIR: The recent report of two polio cases in FCT is unfortunate and embarrassing and it shows that more still has to be done in the fight against polio. For polio cases to be reported in the Federal Capital City where the two Ministers of Health, the two Ministers of FCT and the first lady reside shows that the government of the day is not trying enough in improving the lives of the poor.

Instead of Minister of State, Oloye Jumoke Akinjide and her colleague in the same ministry to take responsibility for not doing enough in the fight against the scouge in the Federal Capital Territory, she blamed the reported cases of polio on the influx of people to the FCT.

With all the money coming from international agencies to fight polio, I think the Minister of Health must also explain why there are still cases of polio in the country. I also expect Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu to explain steps taken by the Ministry of Health to immunize children in Abuja and other satellite towns?

It is embarrassing that Nigeria is one of only three countries in the world where polio still exists. In this, we are in the company of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

I was one of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Independent Monitors during immunization plus days in November 2010 covering two villages; Ogboro and Agbonle in Saki East Local Government Area of Oyo State and from my experience the reason we still have report of polio cases in Nigeria are: nonchalant attitude of some health workers recruited for immunization, some of them pour away the polio vaccine meant for rural areas and claim that they have immunized the children. Also, the health workers are often denied their wages, thereby discouraging them from doing their job appropriately.

It will be recalled that the campaign to stamp out polio received the first jolt in 2003 when some state governments in the north and Islamic leaders took exception to it on the grounds that it is a ploy by the West to control population growth in the Muslim world.

Awareness campaigns must be carried out in some of the northern states where polio vaccination is still being resisted. Muslim clerics in the region must also educate their followers that polio vaccination is harmless. Even some Islamic countries like Saudi Arabia and Malaysia have cooperated with World Health Organisation in ensuring that their citizens are vaccinated.

• John Ajiboye

Osogbo, Osun State.