Nigeria News

Abuja, 05 May 2015 - Due to the insurgency that has affected parts of Nigeria; with the attendant humanitarian crisis threatening  huge numbers of internally displaced persons (IDPS) from Borno, Yobe, Adamawa and Bauchi States, the WHO Regional Director for the African Region Dr Matshidiso Moeti on 07 April 2015 signed a declaration of Nigeria as an “Internal grade 2 Emergency”.

Abuja, 07 May 2015 - A joint high-level preparatory meeting between the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) and the World Health Organization Country Office (WCO) in Nigeria was convened on 05 May, 2015 in Abuja to ensure active and fruitful participation by the Nigerian delegation to the Sixty-Eighth session of the World Health Assembly which opens in Geneva on 18 May, 2015.

The meeting had the presence of the Minister of State for Health, the Permanent Secretary, the Directors of the FMOH, the 34 members of the Nigerian delegation and WCO staff.

Port Harcourt, Rivers 11 May 2015 - The reinforced partnership with private health facilities in Rivers State is beginning to yield unprecedented results as recent exit interviews indicate that 92%  of caregivers were satisfied with routine immunization services despite the lingering industrial action embarked upon by public health workers of Rivers State. As at the end of March 2015, the state’s routine immunization (RI) coverage stands at 58% for Penta 3 which is on course to attaining the national target of 80% by end of the year.

Abuja, 12 May 2015- The World Health Organization Country Representative (WR), Dr Rui Gama Vaz has advised the government of Nigeria to consider sustainable funding options for immunization that promote equity and ensure the poor are not disproportionately burdened.

He gave the advice in his speech at a media roundtable in Abuja on 12 May, 2015, organized by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) to deliberate on the vaccine financing as part of events to seal  the 2015 Africa Vaccination Week.

Abuja, 19 May 2015 - Nigeria has made significant progress towards the interruption of polio viruses with no confirmed case in 2015 and nine months have elapsed since the last case of wild poliovirus (WPV) was confirmed. Similarly, the latest confirmed circulating vaccine derived polio virus (cVDPV) was isolated six months ago.

However, this gain is threatened by cVDPV in the environment of Kamacha River in Zaria of Kaduna state in March 2015 and in Sokoto South Local Government Area (LGA) in Sokoto state in 2014.

Abuja, 25 May 2015- The Commissioners for Health in Imo and Kaduna States have extolled the partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO) in Nigeria during the first quarter meetings of the Immunization, Vaccines and Emergencies (IVE) cluster in the Southern and Northern zones, conducted from 18 - 23 May, 2015.

Abuja, 01 June 2015-The World Health Organization (WHO), in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) and National Primary Healthcare Agency (NPHCDA), conducted a two week monitoring and programme support mission to Abia and Niger States on the Rapid Access Expansion (RAcE)   2015 project from the 12—22 May as part of routine activities to ensure quality of implementation.

Kano, Nigeria 09 June 2015 - Newly sworn-in Governors of Kano and Sokoto, Nigeria’s very high risk polio states, have promised to surpass the gains recorded by their  predecessors  in a renewed commitment to stamp out the paralyzing disease from the traditional ‘polio sanctuaries’.

The latest case of wild polio virus (WPV) in Nigeria was reported from Sumaila LGA of Kano state on 24 July 2014 while Sokoto had circulating vaccine derived polioviruses in the environment in 2014.

Abuja, 11 June 2015 - The World Health Organization (WHO) has joined the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and United Nation’s Population Fund (UNFPA) in the grant signing ceremony of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) of funded humanitarian programme titled “Integrated Humanitarian Assistance for North East Nigeria” held in Abuja on 11 June 2015.

Abuja, 13 June 2015 - The World Health Organization (WHO) has coordinated immunization activities to support Adamawa State to immunize 68,495 under five children from 687 previously unreached settlements due to insecurity during the 6-9 June, 2015 sub-National Immunization Plus Days (sNIPDs), out of which, 646 were receiving oral polio vaccine (OPV) for the first time.