Health
Nigeria Records 46% Decline in Variant Polio Cases in One Year
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria recorded a 46 per cent decline in variant poliovirus cases compared to the previous year, according to the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA).
The NPHCDA announcement came during the Second Quarter 2025 review meeting of the Northern Traditional Leaders Committee on Primary Health Care Delivery (NTLC) in Abuja on Tuesday.
The meeting was chaired by the Emir of Argungu, Sa’Maila Muhammad Mera.
Polio or poliomyelitis is a highly contagious viral disease that mainly affects children under five. It can cause paralysis, respiratory problems, and sometimes death.
The virus spreads through contaminated food, water, or direct contact. Most infections show no symptoms, but some cause fever, fatigue, and limb pain.
Polio is completely preventable through vaccination, which is why campaigns like Nigeria’s NTLC-led efforts are critical.
In his welcome remarks, Mr Mera urged members to intensify their efforts, stressing that the final stretch in the fight against poliovirus was often the toughest.
“We must not relent in our commitment to stopping the transmission of cVPV2 in our Emirates and Kingdoms.
”It is indeed a sacred duty we owe our people whom Almighty Allah has placed under our care,” he said.
The Emir also bemoaned the challenges in the uptake of other integrated services during vaccination campaigns, noting low acceptance of HPV vaccines and anti-malaria interventions in some areas.He called on traditional leaders to educate communities, reassure caregivers, and mobilise households to embrace all vaccines.
“We must redouble our efforts to educate our communities, reassure caregivers, and encourage households to embrace vaccination, as vaccines work,” he stressed.
The ruler also commended NPHCDA and its partners for introducing the strategic shift in vaccination campaigns and welcomed support from Gavi for intensified community sensitisation.
“This support is a clear attestation of the confidence and trust the global community has in the NTLC,” he said.
On his part, the chief executive of NPHCDA, Mr Muyi Aina, said that the reported poliovirus cases had declined from 78 per cent recorded last year to 46 per cent as of today.
“We don’t want to be caught unprepared. This is why we are calling on the collaboration of the media to complement the efforts of our traditional leaders. We are also a voice of the people, and time is not on our side,” he said.
Mr Aina also noted progress in high-burden states such as Kano and Katsina, where infections dropped by 85 and 84 per cent respectively.
He said that between April and June 2025, over 71 per cent of planned settlements were reached during campaigns, rising to 78 per cent in June, while vaccination coverage increased from 81 to 84 per cent.
He also addressed persistent challenges including fake finger-marking and insecurity, which he said undermined the credibility of the campaigns.
“When vaccinators are appointed from Abuja or state capitals, the community does not know them, and there’s no accountability.
“But when traditional leaders are involved in the selection, it improves trust and compliance,” he explained.
He emphasised that providing accurate information to parents remained critical, as no mother would knowingly endanger her child.
In the same vein, the Senior Programme Officer of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) in Nigeria, Mr Sam Okiror, in a goodwill message delivered by its Representative on behalf of the Country Director, commended traditional leaders for their commitment to past immunisation drives, including the newly introduced Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine.
Dr Okiror noted the success of the strategy which empowered traditional leaders to supervise and hold vaccination teams accountable, adding that the approach helped address challenges such as fake finger-marking and non-compliance.
He, however identified two pressing obstacles; low routine immunisation coverage and insecurity in states such as Zamfara, Sokoto, Kebbi, Katsina, Niger, and Borno.
“Low routine immunisation rates, especially in northern states, continue to contribute to the transmission of variant poliovirus and other vaccine-preventable diseases.
”Traditional leaders can play a crucial role in encouraging fathers to support mothers in taking children for immunisation,” he said.
He also urged royal fathers to negotiate safe passage for vaccinators and other primary healthcare services in security-compromised communities.
UNICEF Nigeria Country Representative, Ms Wafaa Saeed-Abdelatef, expressed optimism that Nigeria was nearing the final stretch of polio eradication.
She, however, warned that nomadic and mobile populations as well as children in insecure and hard-to-reach areas continue to miss vaccinations.
“We are hopeful that we are now at the final stretch in Nigeria, and also globally.
”Still, nomadic and other mobile populations characterised by frequent movement and limited access to healthcare services continue to pose a challenge to polio eradication efforts, along with other issues such as water and sanitation,” Ms Saeed-Abdelatef said.
She emphasised the critical role of traditional rulers in breaking transmission in the Lake Chad region where cultural and linguistic ties extend across 17 countries.
She also sought the support of traditional rulers in the upcoming integrated measles, rubella, and polio vaccine campaign, which will introduce a new vaccine into Nigeria’s routine immunisation programme.
Ms Saeed-Abdelatef also confirmed progress in primary health care revitalisation, noting that over 1,160 facilities have been upgraded nationwide, with another 2,800 in the process of being equipped.
“More than 54,000 zero-dose children were reached last year, and 774 health fellows have been deployed to strengthen local-level service delivery,” she said.
She noted that traditional leaders’ engagement remained central to vaccination successes, ensuring supervision, accountability, and improved compliance among caregivers.
“With sustained collaboration among government, communities, media, and traditional institutions, Nigeria can finish strong in its race to eliminate the virus,” she said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
President Bola Tinubu has transmitted 24 bills for consideration of the Senate which seeks to reduce the country’s over-bloated board memberships in the health sector.
The bills were conveyed alongside a letter addressed to President of Senate, Godswill Akpabio, and read at plenary on Tuesday, in line with Section 58(2) of the 1999 Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria.
President Tinubu said the proposed legislations followed a comprehensive review of existing health sector laws by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.
He said the review, approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC), was in collaboration with the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate.
According to the President, the bills aims at streamlining governance structures across health institutions by reducing over-bloated board memberships.
This, he said, would improve efficiency, effectiveness, and service delivery within the sector.
According to him, the proposed legislations cover a wide range of health institutions and regulatory bodies, including tertiary and teaching hospitals, specialty hospitals, professional councils, and regulatory agencies.
He said the bills transmitted to the Senate includes the National Hospital for Women and Children, Abuja, Federal Medical Centres, National Specialty Hospitals Management Board; Orthopaedic Hospitals Management Board
Others are the National Eye Centre, National Ear Care Centre, Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria; Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the National Blood Service Agency, among others.
The President also listed additional legislative proposals such as the Records Officers Registration and Digital Health Bill 2025 and the Federal College of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Bill 2025.
President Tinubu expressed confidence that the Senate would give the bills careful and judicious consideration in the interest of strengthening Nigeria’s health sector.
After the letter accompanying the bills was read, Senate President referred all the 24 bills to the Senate Committee on Rules and Business for further legislative action.
By Adedapo Adesanya
A new pan-African mental wellness campaign, the Africa Wellness Voices Initiative (AWVI), is set to launch this February, bringing together voices from across Africa to promote mental wellbeing, reduce stigma, and encourage supportive conversations around mental health.
Led by SereniMind, a mental health and wellness organization, AWVI will spotlight different African countries daily throughout February by sharing short wellness statements from individuals, organizations, youth leaders, and institutions.
Each daily feature will highlight local perspectives on mental wellbeing while reinforcing a shared continental message: mental health matters, it said in a statement shared with Business Post.
Mental health remains a critical but under-addressed issue across Africa. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), depression affects more than 66 million people in the African Region, while mental health services remain limited in many countries. Young people are particularly affected, facing stigma, lack of awareness, and barriers to accessing support.
AWVI said it aims to address these gaps through a unified, prevention-focused awareness campaign that leverages digital platforms to reach communities across borders. In addition to featured voices, members of the public are encouraged to participate by sharing short wellness videos on social media, fostering grassroots engagement and peer-to-peer support.
Speaking on the initiative, Mr Oyenuga Ridwan, Founder of SereniMind, said: “Across Africa, too many people suffer in silence when it comes to mental health. Africa Wellness Voices Initiative is about unity, bringing together Africans from different countries, ages, and backgrounds to normalize conversations around wellbeing and remind people that seeking support is a strength, not a weakness.”
The February campaign is expected to reach 15–25 African countries, feature 60–120 individuals and organizations, and generate over 500,000 digital impressions across platforms including Instagram, LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), and TikTok. The organizers hope to scale the initiative in future editions to include all 54 African countries.
AWVI says it aligns with broader continental and global priorities on health, youth empowerment, and wellbeing, contributing to conversations around preventive mental health, community resilience, and inclusive development.
Through technology, partnerships, and community engagement, SereniMind works to promote wellbeing and reduce stigma around mental health.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has said Africa was no longer in the grip of a public health emergency over mpox, but warned that it remains endemic in several settings.
The announcement by the Director General of the Africa CDC, Dr Jean Kaseya, on Saturday, comes after the World Health Organisation (WHO) in September said mpox was no longer a global health emergency.
The organisation had declared its worldwide public health emergency over the viral infection — previously known as Monkeypox, and related to smallpox — in August 2024, after a two-pronged mpox epidemic broke out, primarily in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Dr Kaseya said Africa was lifting its regional emergency status for the illness because of boosted detection, therapy, and the roll-out of more than five million mpox vaccines in 16 countries since 2024.
The response contributed to confirmed cases dropping by 60 percent between early 2025 and late 2025, and the number of deaths among those infected dropping from 2.6 per cent to 0.6 per cent, he said in a statement.
The lifting of the regional public health emergency status “does not mark the end of mpox in Africa,” he stated.
“Rather, it signals a transition from emergency response to a sustained, country-led pathway toward elimination.
“Mpox remains endemic in several settings, and continued vigilance, targeted investment, and innovation will be essential to consolidate gains and prevent resurgence,” the CDC chief added.
According to the WHO, 78 per cent of mpox cases were detected in Africa, with the DRC, Guinea, and Madagascar most affected.
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