PDP Celebrates Nigeria’s Delisting From Polio Endemic Countries

PDP Celebrates Nigeria’s Delisting From Polio Endemic Countries
….Claims Credit For Feat

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) celebrates with Nigerians for the
delisting of the country as polio endemic by the World Health
Organization (WHO), following the fact that there has been no single
reported case of wild polio virus attack since July 2014.

The party said the feat did not come by chance, but through a concerted
fight against the virus by the former President Goodluck Jonathan
PDP-led administration, with the support of the Nigerian people and
non-governmental agencies.

PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, in a statement on
Tuesday said the party is happy to note that polio was eradicated in
Nigeria by its government as promised by former President Jonathan, who
had at the 2011 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in
Australia, pledged that his administration would end the polio challenge
in three years time, a target which was met in 2014, when the last case
was recorded.

The PDP recalled that its government in 2012 declared polio a national
health emergency resulting in the establishment of Presidential Task
Force on Polio Eradication (PTFoPE), which effectively coordinated
strategic efforts at all levels of health administration, at the
national, state and local government levels, through special Emergency
Operations Centres (EOCs) across the country.

The party also celebrated the commitment of health workers at all
levels, state governments, volunteers, community and faith based
organizations, the media and other critical stakeholders for their
efforts in tackling the health challenge.

In the same vein, it thanked various non-governmental bodies including,
the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, UNICEF, Rotary International, the
World Health Organization (WHO), among others for their support towards
the eradication of polio in Nigeria.

The party therefore urged the Federal Government and all relevant health
institutions in the country to ensure the effective utilization of
policies and programmes mechanisms already in existence to guarantee
that polio does not resurge in the country.


Signed:

Chief Olisa Metuh
National Publicity Secretary