The United Nations and World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday called for more surveillance of polio to prevent the virus’ return to Africa.
UN resident coordinator in Nigeria, Edward Kallon while visiting the last survivors of polio cases in Nigeria and Africa asked nations to step up vaccination in order to ensure that polio is not reintroduced to the continent.
He said, “We should not be complacent, we should continue to ensure children are vaccinated at the appropriate ages and [with the] right vaccine to ensure this thing does not repeat itself.”
While the WHO’s country representative, Walter Mulombo stated that two Asian countries still have cases of wild polio virus.
After four years without a single case of wild polio, the African region last month was certified free of wild polio virus.
The announcement was made at a virtual session of the 70th WHO Regional Committee for Africa.
