Nigeria marks 2016 World Polio Day.

At a news conference in Abuja to mark the 2016 World Polio Day, The Chief of Health for UNICEF in Nigeria, Mr John Agbor made an appeal to the Federal Government To Strengthen Primary Health Care System in the country.

He explained that this has become important to enable Nigeria solidify the little gains already made in its effort to put an end to the virus.

Although Nigeria’s polio-free certification suffered a major setback in August 2016, due to four new cases of wild polio virus were reported in the north east.The federal government immediate response curtailed the spread of the virus.

The Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole said that the government has already spent over eight billion naira on immunization of children against the polio virus.

The minister said the setback should be a wake up call for the country to put a stop to the spread of the virus.

"While this new outbreak is a setback for us, we must take it as a wakeup call for us as a government and people to ensure that we all play our part to stop the transmission of the virus in our shores. It is pertinent to state that the outbreak is not a failure of the polio eradication programme but mainly due to the fact that the activities of the insurgents in the northeast has resulted in limited access to children for immunization and, indeed health services, for several years."

Asides efforts made in the past, he restated the government’s commitment to eradicating polio in Nigeria.

He also commended the military for their continous efforts in recovering territories from the insurgents which in the past had put a damper on the polio immunization campaigns and other health services in the north eastern regions of the country.

"Beyond enabling our health team access to the communities, the military is also assisting us in our response to this outbreak by providing protection for health workers, supporting movement of materials and personnel as well as providing vaccination services."