14012020 - 50 years after: Let's revisit issues that caused Civil War

Vanguard, TUESDAY, JANUARY 14 , 2020 — 25
What Nigeria must do to stay polio-free
By Sola Ogundipe
POLIO is a viral disease,
transmitted from person
to person, mainly through a
faecal-oral route, contaminated
water or food. The virus
multiplies inside the intestines
and causes paralysis in
children.
There is no cure for polio, but
it can be prevented through
administration of an effective
vaccine - the Oral Polio Vaccine
that rapidly boosts immunity
levels and protects children
from paralysis.
To end outbreak activities in
any country, national and
regional disease surveillance
and laboratory teams must
confirm that no polio
transmission is detected in
samples collected from
paralysed children, children in
contact, and the environment
for at least nine months.
To be declared polio free, a
country must go three years
without a case of wild
poliovirus (WPV) detected
Polio is no longer endemic in
Nigeria; the has attained and
surpassed this stage and is on
the verge of being declared
polio free by the World Health
Organisation.
Remarkable progress
towards this goal marks almost
three years with no case of
wild poliovirus (WPV)
reported. The progress was
made possible with increased
vaccination and surveillance
reach in inaccessible areas in
the northeast.
Innovative and impactful
strategies and special
interventions targeted at
vaccinating more children
have paid off.
The innovative strategies
resulted in more settlements
being accessed and thus more
children vaccinated in
security-compromised areas in
the northeast zone of the
country.
In December 2109, a team
from the African Regional
Certification Commission ,
ARCC, for the eradication of
poliomyelitis, visited the
Federal Capital Territory and
six States - Abia, Delta, Ebonyi,
Edo, Lagos and Oyo.
Following a critical analysis
and assessment of the status
and integrity of certain
parameters, the green light
was given.
Aspects such as routine
immunisation, cold chain,
surveillance activities,
documentation, etc., health
facilities at the primary,
secondary and tertiary levels,
were assessed as well as the
polio eradication processes
carried out at those levels.
The ARCC team is expected
to reconvene in March 2020
for a final verification visit to
*Nigeria is on the verge of being declared polio free by the World Health Organisation,
WHO, in June 2020. Photo: Courtesy WHO.
states in Northern Nigeria.
Preparation for the second
phase of the review is in high
gear because the based on the
recommendations, Nigeria
may receive polio free status,
while the African Region could
be certified to have eradicated
polio by June 2020.
It is cheering to note that
Nigeria has initiated a robust
national action plan to ensure
polio is eradicated once for all,
however, specific steps need to
be taken before this can come
to pass.
In the countdown to polio
eradication, Nigeria must
strengthen routine
immunisation strategy under
the
Temporary
Children of abused mothers more likely to have
low IQ — STUDY
By Gabriel Olawale
& Chinelo Azike
NEW research by the
University of Manchester in
the United Kingdom has
discovered that 50 per cent of the
children of abused mothers are
likely to have a low IQ.
The study also revealed that in
a situation where their mothers
experienced physical violence
from their partner either in
pregnancy or during the first six
years of the child's life, the figure
rises to 22.8 per cent.
Low IQ is defined as an IQ
score of less than 90, where a
normal IQ is considered to be
100.
The study examined the link
between domestic violence and
child intelligence at 8 years old,
using 3,997 mother-child pairs
from The University of Bristol's
Avon Longitudinal Study of
Recommendations as required
by the Emergency Committee
of the International Health
Regulations regarding the
international spread of
poliovirus under the World
Nigeria
should
continue to
ensure its
polio
surveillance
mechanism
can rapidly
respond
Parents and Children.
ALSPAC follows children from
pregnancy and measures
emotional and physical domestic
violence from pregnancy until
eight years of age. The
intelligence of the children was
measured at eight years using the
Weschler standardised IQ test.
According to the team led by
Dr Kathryn Abel, the chance of a
low IQ rises to 34.6 per cent if
the mother was repeatedly
exposed to domestic violence.
“Children of women who
reported domestic violence in
pregnancy or during the first six
years of the child's life are almost
50 per cent more likely to have a
low IQ at age 8.”
They also find out that 13 per
cent of children whose mothers
did not experience domestic
violence had an IQ of below 90
at 8 years of age.
Health Organisation setup.
In addition, Nigeria must
continue to ensure that all
children under the age of five
are rountinely vaccinated.
Nevertheless, the risk of
international spread of
poliovirus remains a Public
Health Emergency of
International Concern,
PHEIC, and a
recommendation for the
extension of Temporary
Recommendations was
deemed necessary by the
WHO.
Based on the current situation
regarding WPV1 and
circulating vaccine-derived
poliovirus, cVDPV, and the
reports provided by affected
Dr Abel said: "We already
know that 1 in 4 women age 16
and over in England and Wales
will experience domestic
violence in their lifetime and that
their children are at greater risk
of physical, social and
behavioural problems.
"We also know that intelligence
in childhood is strongly linked
with doing well in adulthood,
though there has been little
evidence about the risk of low
IQ for these children.
"While we cannot conclude that
IPV causes low IQ, these
findings demonstrate domestic
violence has a measurable link,
by mid-childhood, independent
of other risk factors for low IQ."
17.6 percent of the mothers in
the study reported emotional
violence and 6.8 percent
reported physical violence.
The findings are independent
of other risk factors for low IQ
countries, the WHO Director-
General determined that the
situation relating to poliovirus
continues to constitute a PHEIC,
with respect to WPV1 and
cVDPV.
The Director-General endorsed
the recommendations for
countries meeting the definition
for countries still at risk one way
or another.
Already, Nigeria has
officially declared at Federal
and State government, level
the interruption of WPV1
transmission as a National
public health emergency and
is maintaining the response
as required.
With the most recent
detection of the circulating
vaccine-derived poliovirus,
cVDPV2, on the 9th of
October 2019, Nigeria is also
maintaining emergency status.
Along with other countries,
a high level state of
preparedness is desired. The
possibility of cVDPV2
importation remains a threat
and appropriate response to
such importations must be
treated as a national public
health emergency.
What this means is that
Nigeria should continue to
ensure its polio surveillance
mechanism can rapidly detect
cVDPV2, with plans in place
to respond rapidly with well
planned and executed mOPV2
campaigns.
In line with international
coordination, more action is
expected in support of cross
border actions, such as sharing
of surveillance and other data,
synchronising campaigns and
where possible ensure
vaccination of international
travelers.
such as alcohol and tobacco use
in pregnancy, maternal
depression, low maternal
education and financial hardship
around the child's birth.
Dr Hein Heuvelman, from The
University of Bristol added:
"Exposure to domestic violence
is common for children in most
part of the world and an
important and often overlooked
risk factor in their life chances.
"So knowing the extent to
which these already vulnerable
children are further affected is a
powerful argument for more,
better and earlier intervention.
"Current support for women
experiencing domestic violence
is inadequate in some areas and
absent in others. Early
intervention with these families
protects children from harm, but
it may also prioritise their future
development."