Disease prevention: Rotary International donates $7m to Nigeria
Rotary International has donated $7m to Nigeria for the eradication and prevention of diseases. This was made known in a statement signed by the Rotary International President, Gordon Mclnally, who was on a three-day working visit to Nigeria.
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It was revealed that Rotary had earlier donated $14m two months ago through the World Health Organisation to Nigeria, for technical assistance on polio surveillance.
The statement indicated that Mclnally might have an audience with President Bola Tinubu on other areas of assistance on disease control, and child and maternal health.
It added that Nigeria was also an awardee of Rotary’s $2m grant for the improvement of Maternal and Child Health.
The Coordinator of the Local Organising Committee, Prof Emmanuel Lufadeju, and the Co-coordinator, Dr Goddy Nnadi, said the visit would enhance the ties between the Federal Government and Rotary International.
The statement partly read, “Rotary International is a Non-Governmental foremost Humanitarian Organisation with over 1.5m members worldwide. It enjoys diplomatic status and has been an observer at the United Nations since 1948. The organisation has been instrumental in the eradication of Polio in Nigeria. This visit is to improve the already existing bond between the Federal Government of Nigeria, the World Health Organisation, the United Nations Children Fund, and other stakeholders. Nigeria is the awardee of the second ‘Programme of Scale’, a $2m grant, for the improvement of Maternal and Child Health, titled, ‘Together for healthy families in Nigeria. Recently, a new grant amounting to $14m was given by Rotary, through the WHO to the Government of Nigeria, to enable WHO to provide technical assistance on polio surveillance. The grant was also a support to avert a resurgence of wild polio as well as to eradicate the Circulating Variant Poliovirus Type two in the country.”
While speaking about its members, the statement added, “It is important to note that Rotarians are actively involved in the implementation of all Rotary projects in Nigeria. They work closely with the Federal Ministry of Health, the State Ministries of Health, and other national and international partners.”
PUNCH/Wumi
