by By Efa Sunday
As part of efforts to drive home the campaign against polio in Nigeria, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has staged and launched an Immunisation song titled ” No More Zero Dose”. Featuring A-list artists, UNICEF ambassadors and advocates from across Africa such as; Spyro, Qing Madi, Waje, Timi Dakolo, Cobham, and Omawumi, Kate Henshaw, Ali Nuhu, Stanley Enow, Sekouba Bambino, Master Soumy and Mawndoe, the song is aimed to represent significant milestone in UNICEF’s ongoing efforts to reduce the number of Nigerian children who are not immunised.
For several years now, UNICEF has embarked on a series of efforts to tighten loose ends with regard to child immunisation in Nigeria, bringing about fresh hopes for the future each time.
Polio outbreak and its prevalence has become a global concern for many years and still continues, with its existence dating back to prehistoric times. According to a report published on Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) website on the 11th of October, 2024, four countries have been said to have new cases of polio this week, including Pakistan with four more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases and Angola, Nigeria, and South Sudan with vaccine-derived cases.
Meanwhile, World Health Organization (WHO) regional director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, on Thursday in a message to mark World Polio Day 2024 said the circulating variant polio type 2 has been found in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Mali, Niger and Nigeria, explaining that Africa has recorded 134 new polio cases in at least seven counties.
In 2024 alone, 134 polio type 2 cases were detected as of Sept. 5, Moeti disclosed, although she stated that significant improvement in polio eradication has been recorded in the southern African region with no case of poliovirus reported in South Africa since 2022, even as she hoped for an end to the virus in Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia.
At the one-day Zonal Premiering/Screening of ‘No More Zero Dose’ song, which also featured strategic media dialogue with selected media houses from across twelve (12) states, which held virtually on Tuesday 22nd of October, 2024, a Health Specialist from UNICEF, Enugu, Dr Ifeyinwa Anyanyo, outlined some key partners that UNICEF have and will continue working with, such as the States First Ladies, appealing to their conscience to flag-off polio advocacies for children in their respective states.
Dr. Anyanyo also pledged UNICEF’s support by ensuring that health facilities across the states are fully equipped and they are ready-to-use- polio vaccines. He added that UNICEF’s health workers attached to various state governments will ensure the safety of all vaccines, adding that any vaccines found not good enough for use will be discarded, not considering the financial implication.
While rounding up his remark, the health specialists also cited insecurity as a major challenge in some southern states that has impeded medical advocacies greatly, while calling for concerted efforts from relevant security agencies.
On his part, Dr Olusoji Akinyele, another Health Special, UNICEF, Enugu also called on media practitioners to support the #End Polio Now Campaign by making posts on various social media platforms, getting involved in polio walks in their respective states, incorporate the message of ‘#No Zero Doze’ campaign in their reports, give necessary playtime and air space to the Zero Dose music, as well as develop programmes that will orientate parents and guardians on the need to immunize their children, specially those whose children had never received any dosage of the polio vaccine.
Dr. Anyanyo also urged media houses to regularly sponsor reports encouraging children to be given the vaccine dosage until they have received the four vaccinations. The polio vaccine is given in 4 doses: at age 2 months, 4 months, 6 to 18 months, and 4 to 6 years.
Selected journalists for the zonal primering/ screening were drawn from; Abia, Anambra, Imo, Cross river, Rivers, Bayelsa, Kogi, Benue, Enugu, Ebonyi, Akwa Ibom and Delta.
POLIO: VIRUS, CAUSES, SYMPTOMS, TRANSMISSION & TREATMENTS
Polio, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) is a highly infectious disease caused by poliovirus, that mostly affects young children, attacks their nervous system and can lead to spinal and respiratory paralysis, and in some cases death. Most people have no symptoms or mild symptoms, but some become paralyzed.
Overview
In 1988, the World Health Assembly adopted a resolution for the worldwide eradication of polio, marking the launch of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), spearheaded by national governments, WHO, Rotary International, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and UNICEF, and later joined by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. Since then, the incidence of polio worldwide has been reduced by 99%, and the world stands on the threshold of eradicating a human disease globally for only the second time in history, after smallpox in 1980.
Wild poliovirus cases have decreased by over 99% since 1988, from an estimated 350 000 cases in more than 125 endemic countries then, to just two endemic countries.
Polio mainly affects children under 5 years of age. However, anyone of any age who is unvaccinated can contract the disease.There is no cure for polio, it can only be prevented. Polio vaccine, given multiple times, can protect a child for life.
WHO IS AT RISK FOR POLIO?
You’re most at risk for polio if you aren’t vaccinated and you:
- Live in or travel to an area where polio hasn’t been eliminated.
- Live in or travel to an area with poor sanitation.
- Are under 5.
- Are pregnant.
SYMPTOMS
Abortive poliomyelitis symptoms are similar to many other illnesses. They start three to seven days after getting infected and last a few days. Symptoms of abortive poliomyelitis include; Fatigue, Fever, Headache, Vomiting, Diarrhea or constipation and Sore throat.
Paralytic poliomyelitis starts out with symptoms similar to abortive poliomyelitis or non-paralytic poliomyelitis. Additional symptoms can appear days or weeks later, including; Sensitivity to touch and Muscle spasms.
You can have symptoms of polioencephalitis on their own or along with flu-like symptoms. Symptoms include; Extreme tiredness (fatigue), Anxiety, Trouble focusing and Seizures.
POLIO TREATMENT
NOTE: There’s no cure for polio. Full vaccination can reduce contract risk for life. There are no specific medications to treat polio. If you have paralytic polio, you’ll receive physical therapy. If your breathing muscles are weakened or paralyzed, you’ll need mechanical ventilation, a machine that helps you breathe.
However, as recommended by the WHO, you might be able to improve your symptoms by; Drinking fluids (such as water, juice and broth). Using heat packs to help muscle aches. Taking pain relievers, such as ibuprofen. Doing physical therapy and any exercise recommended by your healthcare provider. Getting plenty of rest.
Is there a cure for polio?
World Polio Day is celebrated annually on Oct. 24, calling for more action in the fight against polio.
