Following the recent outbreak of the Wild Polio Virus (WPV) in Malawi, the Federal Government of Nigeria has put measures in place to safeguard the country against importation of the virus.
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According to the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr. Faisal Shuaib, one of such measures is the reactivation and reconstitution of the Expert Review Committee on Polio Eradication and Routine Immunization (ERC).
He said that the ERC would provide expert advice and guidance on strategies and approaches for polio eradication and routine immunization.
He said that the committee would meet periodically to review the country’s polio eradication and routine immunization programmes taking into consideration population-based and laboratory studies, programmatic approaches, cost information, and other issues so as to provide holistic and practical advice to the country.
“The ERC’s expert advice contributed immensely to the country’s achievement of WPV-free status in August 2020. Consequently, it has become imperative to reactivate the committee following the recent outbreak of WPV in Malawi and the outbreaks of circulating variant of polio virus type 2 (cVPV2) in Nigeria. The ERC is expected to work with the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency to come up with multistakeholder plans to strengthen surveillance, build population immunity, mitigate against and control all forms of polio viruses”. Dr. Shiaib said.
The reconstituted 12-member expert committee chaired by a public health expert, Prof. Akin Osibogun has members drawn from academia, the media, donors and development partners including WHO, CDC and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The Executive Dorector listed Members of the committee to include “Prof Dorothy Esangbedo, Prof Shuaib Bello, Prof Clara Ejembi, Prof Sade Ogunsola, Prof B.S.C. Uzochukwu, Prof Ilayisu Zubairu, Dr. Muhammad Dallatu, Mr Mannir Dan Ali, Dr Steve Cochi (CDC), Mr Aidan O’Leary (WHO) and Jay Wenger (BMGF)”.
The reconstituted ERC has a renewable tenure of two years and will be inaugurated at a date to be announced soon.
