Nigeria, Chad, Niger to vaccinate 83m children against polio

Ministers of health from Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, Niger, and Nigeria have launched a synchronised regional polio vaccination campaign.

The initiative aims to protect 83 million children under five years old across the Lake Chad Basin from poliovirus type 2.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), “over the past 12 months, variant poliovirus type 2 has been detected both in the environment (wastewater samples) and among affected people in Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria”.

A concerning 210 detections have been reported, with 140 cases resulting in paralysis.

The WHO highlighted that “over 50 per cent of the polio cases reported in Chad in 2024 are linked to the strain circulating in Cameroon, underlining the importance of coordination and synchronisation of polio response efforts”.

The campaign will run from April 24-28 and targets high-risk border populations.

In Nigeria, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Adamawa state government are calling on parents to ensure their children, aged zero to five, receive immunisation against polio.

Oluseyi Olosunde, health officer of the UNICEF Bauchi field office, said “this is to ensure every child receives the appropriate vaccine according to their age”.

While Adamawa state is currently polio-free, precautionary measures are vital to maintain this status.

Suleiman Bashir, executive chairman of the Adamawa State Primary Health Care Development Agency, said the exercise, scheduled for April 26 to 29, is free and safe.

He appealed to parents and guardians to avail their children of the vaccination, noting that over 1,070 facilities and 2,778 teams have been trained for the four-day effort.

Bashir reassured parents that “the polio immunisation exercise is crucial in maintaining the state’s polio-free status”.