The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) says Nigeria’s Wild Polio Virus-free status is not under threat.

The Executive Director, NPHCDA, Dr Faisal Shuaib who gave the assurances in a statement issued in Abuja stressed that since the verification and certification, there have been no cases of WPV isolated anywhere in the country.

“Nigeria and the African region were certified WPV-free on August 2020 and therefore, the polio-free status of the country is not in any way under threat. The attention of NPHCDA has been drawn to reports in some sections of the media claiming that there is an outbreak of a new polio variant in some states. This is a gross misrepresentation of the facts. For the avoidance of doubt, no case of WPV has been reported anywhere in the country since the last case in 2016.”

He further explained that “What is being misconstrued for an outbreak of WPV is the detection, through our robust disease surveillance system of 22 cases of Acute Flaccid Paralysis, spread across seven (7) States (Borno, Jigawa, Kano, Kebbi, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara). These non-wild polio viruses originated as a result of normal changes in the reproduction of viruses. These viruses are not as virulent as WPV and are also being reported in other countries. Working with our donors and development partners, Nigeria has already acquired new tools and resources to ensure these viruses are contained.”

The NPHCDA boss however assured Nigerians that the Agency and partners would continue to conduct surveillance and vaccination campaigns in order to prevent and contain any possible importation of the Wild Polio Virus.

It would be recalled that Nigeria was the last country in African to be certified Wild Polio Virus (WPV)-free in 2020, following a rigorous verification and certification process by the African Regional Commission for the Certification of Poliomyelitis Eradication (ARCC) which spanned 3 years of no detection of WPV.

Four family members were confirmed dead due to suspected food poisoning in Banni, Kaiama Local Council of Kwara State.

Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Kwara State Command, Mr. Babawale Afolabi, confirmed the incident.

The NSCDC spokesman said that the four relations died as a result of food poisoning around 7 am on Thursday.

“We received a piece of information about the death of two children of Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar of Olori village, Banni community of Kwara North, Umar Mohammed 25 years and Kadir Mohammed 18 years. They started vomiting around 4:00 am on Thursday and were rushed to General Hospital, Igbeti, Oyo State. They were tested and confirmed to have taken poisonous food. After few minutes, the two died in the hospital,” Afolabi said.

As the family members were preparing to bury their corps, one of the grandsons of Abubakar, Umar Mohammed also died.

The PRO said that a team of NSCDC personnel led by the Divisional Officer, Mr. Adesina Taofeek visited the family to condole with them and advised other family members who took the same meal with the deceased, to go for a check-up at the hospital.

Some other members of the family were admitted to the hospital, for proper tests and possible treatment to avert undesirable occurrences.

As Nigeria joined the global community to celebrate Sickle Cell awareness day, a survivor from the ailment, Mr. Shehu Olaitain has pledged to embark on the enrolment of 100 Sickle Cell patients into the National Health Insurance scheme NHIS to enable them have free access to healthcare.

At an event to mark the day in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, the survivor launched a book ‘I AM A SURVIVOR; THE STORY OF MY TRIUMPH OVER SICKLE CELL PAINS’ to proffer solutions to lack of awareness.

June 19 is designated as World Sickle Cell Awareness Day.

The international awareness day is observed annually with the goal to increase public knowledge and an understanding of sickle cell disease, and the challenges experienced by patients, their families and caregivers.

Sickle cell disorders are a group of illnesses which affect your red blood cells and it is a genetic condition, which means it is passed on from parents to children.

According to the Olaitain, the book is relevant to sickle cell patients as it will reassure them of realizing their dreams and aspirations despite the health challenges.

He encouraged Nigerians to know their genotype and the society to stop discrimination.

The survivor who made a pelage to enrol patients into the NHIS with the proceeds of the launch also said, “later on I plan creating a Sickle Cell hub where patients can have access to psychologists and counsellors to discuss their worries and fears. The hub when fully functional will have facilities for business training and development to make patients to be independent economically.”

Former Managing Director Daily Trust, Mr. Isiaq Ajibola appealed to the Nigerian Government to budget more funds for the creation of awareness and treatment of warriors.

In a lecture presentation, the Founder, Beulah Sickle Cell Foundation, Mrs. Josephine Olunaike said Nigeria ranked high in the world on Sickle Cell disease, a condition that requires concerted efforts to stop the disorders or minimize it.

Olunaike called for better awareness creation on genotype testing and appealed to secondary schools in the country to introduce Sickle Cell education in the curriculum for proper orientation.

The theme for the 2021 Sickle Cell Awareness Day for this year is “Sickle Cell Matters.”

A total of 400, 000 Kaduna citizens from across the 23 Local Government Areas have been enrolled into the Kaduna Contributory Health Management Authority (KADCHMA) scheme.

Dr Juliana Dauda B, Head Operations Department, (KADCHMA) said in an interview that, about 46,000 vulnerable people have also been enrolled into the scheme from across the 23 LGAs.

The scheme was passed into law in 2018 by the Kaduna State government to provide health care services to the residents at very subsidized rates and qualitative manner.

It led to the establishment of KADCHMA, with the mandate of delivering and operating the contributory health scheme itself.

“Right from the inception, since it was established, we’ve followed through on our key mandate and have been able to enrol a total of over 400,000 currently released to the scheme from the formal sectors, informal and vulnerable components of the population of Kaduna state,” Juliana said.

“Currently every Ward in each LGA of the state has at least one facility providing services for the enrollee which met service provision of equitable access for service provisions for citizens.

Dr. Juliana called on residents of the state to avail themselves of the scheme for the huge benefits they stand to achieve.

People are excited about the scheme but some have reservations about the scheme in terms of newness, people are skeptical in joining the scheme on sustainability, the premium goes by the economic status of most people.

The premium for an individual is N10, 650 per annum, and for the family plan, a family of 6 is N57, 950 per annum. So one of the challenges or the constraint to the take-up of these two by the informal sector is the premium itself.