Rotarians and indeed on the hearts of many mothers in and around Garki
Family Health Center; a departure from gloom and horror of a vicious
attack on the community of Nyanya, Abuja, a day earlier. Thanks a lot
to Sir Emeka Offor, the founder of Sir Emeka Offor Foundation for his
unbending commitment to see that Polio is totally eradicated from
Nigeria and the world.
Sir Emeka Offor, a member of the Arch klumph Society of Rotary
International and the First Rotary International Polio Ambassador to
Nigeria unveiled a new office space in Maitama area of Abuja,
dedicated as the Polio Ambassador Office, a demonstration and a
fulfillment of his pledge to fight Polio till "every child is
immunized in Nigeria and polio is no more. The new office according to
him will serve as the coordinating office for all polio related issues
under the umbrella of Rotary International. In addition, it will
function as a control center and a hub for all applicable outreach
projects, and a birthing platform for advocacy on Polio eradication
initiatives.
The unveiling of the office, although significant, and the highlight
of the day, it did not go without an immunization drive organized and
held at the Family Health Clinic in Area 2 Garki. The Rotary
International Ambassador, Sir Emeka Offor, along with a special guest,
the visiting Chair Trustee of Rotary Foundation and the past Rotary
International President D.K. Lee and his amiable wife Jong Lee were on
site to administer oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) to many infants.
Equally and actively involved in the immunization exercise was the
National Chairman Rotary International Polio Plus Dr. Tunji Funsho.
Others were senior ranking members of Rotary International including
past and present District Governors. In addition to the esteemed group
of participators is the former United States Ambassador to Nigeria
Howard Jeter (Rtd.) and Peggy Asseo, the Rotary International Polio
Campaign Manager.
Earlier during the day, Ambassador Sir Emeka visited the Polio
Emergency Operation Center (EOC) to learn of their efforts in the
fight against polio. While conducting a tour of the EOC at their Abuja
office, Dr. Etsano, the program manager, shared with Sir. Emeka Offor
and D.K. Lee in the company of many distinguished Rotary
representatives their successes and challenges with the Polio
eradication initiatives in Nigeria.
In his introductory remarks, Dr. Etsano salutes the efforts of the
visiting donor in the person of Sir Emeka Offor. He said, "I want also
to inform you that we are committed to eradicating polio in the
country, the scourge of polio, by June this year. The Polio Emergency
Operation Center, which is the place you have now was carved out in
October 2012 to give a bite to the program and ensure that we put it
on an emergency note based on the World Health Assembly recommendation
that polio should not be a programmatic emergency, and that is exactly
what we have been doing to ensure that we meet with the deadline and
we should exit after India." He also said that they are making
strategic inroads towards polio immunization in high-risk areas of the
country. He described high-risk areas as regions where Rotary efforts
has suffered most set backs due to misinformation about the safety of
OPV, predominantly in the northern corridors of Nigeria.
"Looking at the epidemiology of wild poliovirus in the country, we
ended last year with 53 cases of children paralyzed from polio
compared to 2012 where we had 122 cases. The first quarter of this
year, we recorded 1 case in Kano and we just got an advanced
notification of 1 case in Bayelsa. What I want to mention here is that
there has been about 90% reduction compared to last year at the same
period." Speaking on the innovations that have given them success in
the program in spite of the obvious challenges of insecurity in the
North, he said that in order to win the hearts of the parents to agree
for the immunization of their children, you must first of all win the
hearts of the children. "What has worked for us is the introduction of
sports whistles as a gift to the children…the kids are attracted to it
and trust is quickly established. Another scheme as stated by Dr.
Etsano is the integrated approach to health drives. When the children
come in to the clinic for their routine visits, while they are
receiving other acceptable vaccines, they are easily given OPV, he
said. He further stated that the EOC, which was carved out in October
2012 is "committed to eradicating Polio by June this year (2014) from
Nigeria.
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