Community informants helping to combat Polio in Borno – WHO

Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, said in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday that many local government areas in the state have become access-compromised following nearly a decade of insurgency.

Moeti said that this has made it difficult for the local population to access basic and quality health services, adding that infants have been one of the main victims to this development.

A health worker gives a child an oral polio vaccine in Kano, Nigeria. ece-auto-gen

According to her, health workers in some areas have been unable to distribute vaccines or provide needed routine immunisation services and children are particularly at risk of vaccine-preventable diseases such as polio.

Moeti said that as surveillance officers cannot access certain areas, local residents have been engaged and trained to help support strengthening of disease surveillance in hard-to-reach areas.

Following nearly a decade of insurgency, many local government areas in Borno State have become access-compromised, making it difficult for the local population to access basic health services and quality healthcare.

Infants have been one of the main victims of this situation as health workers in some areas have been unable to distribute vaccines or provide much needed routine immunisation services.

Health officials go from house to house to immunise children against polio. ece-auto-gen

In this context, children are particularly at risk of vaccine-preventable diseases such as polio. This development has made it challenging to carry out effective identification of all Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) cases and thereby fully verify the absence of poliovirus in the area.

As surveillance officers cannot access certain areas, local residents are engaged and trained to help support strengthening of disease surveillance in hard-to-reach areas.

Engagement of community informants for AFP surveillance has yielded positive impact in Borno State.

From January 31 to December 31, 2018, the community informant initiative has helped to significantly strengthen the disease surveillance capacity in key areas, including hard-to-reach areas.

Community informants helping to combat Polio in Borno – WHO ece-auto-gen

Key to rapidly detecting any poliovirus that might be circulating, and thereby enabling a rapid outbreak response is the timely detection and investigation of all cases of AFP, in other words any child who develops sudden weakness of the limbs, Moeti said.

She said that current insecurity in the region has also made it difficult to effectively identify all AFP cases in order to verify the absence of poliovirus in the area.

Moeti said that building on the success of engaging community informants, the organisation and its partners would continue to support Nigeria in sustaining this work and ensure that all AFP cases were detected.

Dr Clement Peter, Officer in Charge (OiC), WHO Nigeria, said that as a key partner of Nigeria in the effort against polio, WHO was committed to sustaining and expanding the hard-gained progress achieved in surveillance in hard-to-reach areas.

Peter said that the engaged local informants have also been very helpful in monitoring other IDSR diseases such as measles, whooping cough, Tuberculosis (TB) and meningitis.

He said that the community informant initiative was made possible with the active support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF).

The OiC said that in addition to its support to the community informant initiative, WHO would expand AFP surveillance network in the region through the sustained integration of Mobile Hard-to-Reach teams into surveillance activities.

Dr Sule Mele, the Executive Director, State Primary Health Care Agency, Borno, said that this year, 17 AFP cases have already been reported from hard-to-reach settlements while one out of the 17 AFP cases is from a hard-to-reach settlement in the Lake Chad Islands.

Mele said that it was therefore imperative to continue to sustain the progress achieved in AFP surveillance in insecure areas through the use of community informants.

He said that this was because the strategy has also enabled the agency to provide additional basic maternal and child health interventions to the undeserved and vulnerable population.