Escambray ENGLISH EDITION
The African Regional Certification Center revealed on Thursday that Nigeria will be declared polio-free in June 2020, after four years with no cases reported.
The leader of the African Regional Satisfaction Committee, Anad Dumba, said his team is preparing for certification, and praised the Nigerian government for the support and actions taken to eradicate the disease.
Health authorities revealed that the state government released funds for polio immunization, malaria, basic health care fund and other funds for the sector.
On July 24, 2015, Nigeria was removed from the list of endemic countries by the World Health Organization (WHO), but the following year there were two cases of polio caused by the wild virus.
Nigeria is the last African country where polio is endemic, and once it is certified that Africa is polio-free, five of the six regions of the world will be too, with the exception of Asia.
Polio remains endemic in Afghanistan and Pakistan, which means that it has never been possible to stop the transmission of the virus that attacks the spinal cord causing muscular atrophy and paralysis, mainly to children.
Escambray reserves the right to publish comments.