Africa: Nigeria - Keeping Polio At Bay Through Door-to-Door Visits

press release

For the past two decades, Nigeria has been pursuing the eradication of polio. About 15 years ago, the perception around the world was that Nigeria, the most populated country in Africa, would be the last country to eradicate polio. Today, Nigeria has successfully reached zero cases of polio, and, in 2015, the World Health Organization announced the paralyzing disease was no longer endemic in the country.

In an effort to maintain zero polio cases in Nigeria, the Swedish Red Cross, through the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), has been supporting the Nigerian Red Cross Society in raising awareness on the importance of polio vaccinations in Dambatta, Bebeji and Ungogo local government areas of Kano State. A total of 100 Red Cross volunteers have been trained and mobilized to encourage parents to ensure the vaccination of all children under the age of five with the oral polio vaccine. This is coupled with intensified house-to-house health education in the communities, where the volunteers visit homes and schools three times a week. They register children under the age of five, mark the fingers of those children who had been vaccinated, and trace those who had been missed.

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