Foundation chief rallies support to keep Nigeria polio-free, improve child survival

Rotary International has reaffirmed its commitment to vaccinating Nigerian children against polio and expanding its maternal and child health interventions, stressing that the mission remains urgent while wild poliovirus still exists in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Speaking in Abuja on Thursday during a visit by Rotary’s global leadership, Holger Knaack, Chair of the Rotary Foundation Board of Trustees, cautioned that Nigeria cannot afford complacency despite recording no wild poliovirus cases in the last five years.

The outreach, held at the Government Junior Secondary School, Gwarimpa playground, brought together community leaders, parents, teachers, health workers, and Rotary officials who conducted free medical outreach in the community.

“As long as there is a single case in Pakistan or Afghanistan, we must continue vaccinating children. As long as we see a single case anywhere in the world, our children are not safe,” Knaack said.

Knaack outlined Rotary’s three flagship programmes in Nigeria: the Polio Eradication Initiative, the Together for Healthy Families maternal and newborn safety project, and the Rotary Healthy Community Challenge, which focuses on malaria, diarrhoea, and pneumonia, three of the leading causes of child deaths.

He expressed appreciation to Nigerian Rotarians, community members, and major donors for their unwavering support, singling out Sir Emeka Offor for his $5 million contribution to the Foundation.

Announcing a new phase of the Healthy Community Challenge, Knaack said Rotary teams would be dispatched to communities to prevent and treat malaria, diarrhoea, and pneumonia through awareness campaigns, improved access to care, and preventive health measures.

He explained that Rotary’s combined interventions, spanning immunisation, maternal care, community outreach, and digital health tracking are designed to achieve lasting reductions in maternal and child mortality.

While acknowledging Nigeria’s progress toward eradicating all strains of poliovirus, Knaack urged well-meaning Nigerians to continue supporting Rotary’s humanitarian programmes.

Rotary Foundation Trustee, Ijeoma Okoro noted that Rotary’s community interventions have yielded measurable improvements. 

“We have reduced maternal and child mortality by over 28 percent across our project sites,” she said.

She explained that the current phase of the programme covers Ekiti, Nasarawa, the Federal Capital Territory, and Gombe States, with plans to expand to 10 states in the next phase following new funding support from the Sir Emeka Offor Foundation.

According to Okoro, Rotary’s approach follows a cradle-to-five model, supporting women from pre-conception through pregnancy and tracking children until age five. 

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“This is a commitment. Rotary is fully invested in it, and we are not looking back,” she affirmed.

She called for stronger community engagement and clearer public messaging to sustain progress, urging traditional rulers, religious leaders, the media, and citizens to promote routine immunisation and ensure all children under five receive vaccines during campaigns.

“Government needs to work closely with traditional rulers because they are custodians of law and opinion leaders in their communities. 

“Polio anywhere is polio everywhere, and ending preventable maternal and child deaths requires collective, sustained action,” Okoro added.

Commending Rotary International for the impactful outreach in his community, the District Head of Gwarimpa, Hakim Umar Bayero, emphasized that community ownership has been key to the success of health and empowerment initiatives. 

He called for closer collaboration with government agencies and stakeholders to translate short-term gains into sustainable health systems.

In appreciation of their contribution to the community, the Rotary Foundation Chief and his wife, Suzanne, were gifted with the traditional Gbagyi attire, symbolizing gratitude for bringing global attention and support to Gwarimpa.