Nigeria to end polio in 2014 - Health minister

The Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, says the Federal Government will partner with leading stakeholders in order to eradicate polio by the end of 2014.

The minister said this in a statement issued at the opening of a two-day meeting of all high-risk polio local government areas in the North, held in Kaduna, on Friday.

According to the statement signed by the Assistant Director, Public Relations Unit, National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Saadu Salahu, Chukwu assured all the low-performing councils on the polio eradication of the Federal Government's support.

'Nigeria's impressive performance on polio eradication in 2012 and 2013 provided a clear indicator that Nigeria would end polio transmission at the end of this year,' he said.

The Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Ado Muhammad, commended the efforts of all stakeholders at restricting polio virus to just few local government areas in Borno, Yobe and Kano states.

'These laudable achievements had been acknowledged by the international community,' he said.

The low performing local governments had been identified to be 42 in all, spread across 10 northern states which include: Kano with 14 LGAs, Sokoto (10), Kaduna (five), Borno (four), Katsina (three), Bauchi (two), Kebbi (two), Yobe (two), Niger (one) and Zamfara (one).