Nigeria Gets $95m World Bank Facility To Eradicate Polio

IN a final push to eradicate polio in Nigeria, the World Bank’s Board yesterday approved an International Development Association (IDA) credit of $95 million for the Nigeria Polio Eradication Support Project.

The move is to help the country achieve and sustain at least 80 percent polio immunization across all states, in line with the Bank’s expressed support for the eventual eradication of the disease from the country.

The project will finance roughly 655 million doses of oral polio vaccine for children under age five across Nigeria, with a special focus on the northern states, where polio is more prevalent.

Available information indicates that, out of the Bank’s $195 million lending commitments to Nigeria on polio, from 2003 to 2012 (amounting to $195 million), the country has already qualified for a 70 percent buy-down.

The project, the World Bank says, continues a “buy-down” arrangement by which the Gates Foundation, the US Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention, and Rotary International (via the UN Foundation), will repay the loan’s present value when pre-agreed results are met.

Country Director for Nigeria, Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly, said, “eradication of polio is now within reach in Nigeria; so, we must keep up the momentum to defeat this dreaded disease once and for all.

“Also, we must take in the main lesson from Nigeria’s success against polio, which is that improving outreach and closely involving communities will help build a stronger national health system.”

The Bank has worked with Nigeria’s National Primary Health Care Agency since 2003 to ensure timely vaccine supply.

World Bank officials, at the weekend, however, describe the gesture as part of a worldwide drive to eradicate polio, even as they emphasise the fact that the effort also builds on Nigeria’s strong performance in recent years, with the number of polio cases falling from 1,100 in 2006 to 62 in 2011.

Nigeria is one of the last three countries in the world where polio is endemic, the others being Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The Bank, Thursday evening, quoted Minister of State for Health and Chairman of Presidential Task Force on Polio Eradication, Dr. Mohamed Pate, as saying that what government would be doing in the next four years “is going to determine whether we will succeed in this historic undertaking to eradicate polio in Nigeria,

“We have beaten back the disease to a large extent already, and with the support of our partners, we are gearing up to make the last big push.”    The new project is aligned with the Federal Government of Nigeria’s 2012 Polio Eradication Emergency Plan, and with the World Bank’s strategy in Africa, which aims to reduce vulnerability to illness and disability among poor people.