The Guardian
http://www.guardiannews.com/
Accessed 11 August 2012

Anti-polio campaign is hit by setbacks in Nigeria
The Guardian – Nigeria

NIGERIA will not be able to meet the Presidential target of stopping the transmission of the Wild Polio Virus (WPV) by December 2012, and eventually eradication by December 2013, following the sustained transmission of the virus.

Reasons: Insecurity has forced the federal government to postpone the Immunisation Plus Days (IPDs) campaign especially in northern states. A recent polio campaign was postponed in Kaduna, Yobe and Borno due to insecurity. The three states were part of the 11 northern states scheduled for IPDs between July 7 and 10, 2012.

It is feared that the number of new polio cases in Nigeria will continue to rise following the beginning of the rainy season, a “high season” for polio transmission. In many countries, the high transmission season for poliovirus begins with the rainy season.

Some Nigerians especially in the northern region have continued to reject the vaccine due to controversy on whether the administration of polio vaccines on children causes infertility among women and Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).

This is despite efforts by the Presidential Taskforce on Polio Eradication and the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) to educate the Nigerian public on the causes of WPV spread and the need for them to allow their children to be administered with the Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) to prevent the disease and the imminent paralysis…