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The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), rotary club and other stakeholders have called for unrelentless efforts in the immunisation campaign in spite of the polio-free declaration by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The organisations made the call in Abuja during the launch of a book titled, “So They Can Walk: The Story Of Polio Eradication In Nigeria, The Rotary Perspective,” authored by Professor Christopher Bankole Ndubisi Ogbogbo.The World Polio Day was initiated by Rotary International over a decade ago to commemorate the birth of Jonas Salk, who developed a vaccine against poliomyelitis. The day is celebrated every year on 24 October to help create more public awareness of the disease and Rotary International’s efforts to eradicate it.
Speaking at the launch, which record the efforts of the heroes of a fight to protect the children of Nigeria against polio, the representative of UNICEF Nigeria, Peter Hawkins said Wild polio, does not exist in Nigeria or Africa, and that has a lot to do with a rotary club.
Also speaking, Dr. Tunji Funsho, chairman of Rotary’s Nigeria National PolioPlus Committee (NNPC) said one of the biggest challenges to keep polio at zero has been the low level of immunisation.
The author of the book, Ogbogbo said he was inspired to write the book given the poor record of history in Nigeria, saying that there was the need to document the efforts put in by selfless men and women to eradicate polio.