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L-R: Past District Governor/Chairman of the Committee on Trustees Visit to Nigeria, PDG Victor Onukwuga, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Rotary International Foundation/former President of Rotary International, Mark Moloney, Partner of Trustee Chair, Rotary Foundation, Gay Blackburn Maloney, Past District Gov and Chairman Nigeria National Polio Eradication Committee, Joshua Hassan, with others, during a symbolic polio immunization, held at Primary healthcare Jahi Village Ndawuse, in Abuja on Thursday .
The Chairman of Rotary International Foundation, Mr Mark Maloney has said that the body has invested 300 million Dollars in the campaign against Polio in Nigeria since initiating its global immunization efforts
Maloney spoke on Thursday in Abuja after administering immunizations and presenting souvenirs to children at the Jahi Primary Health Center.
The Rotary Foundation Chair was accompanied by his wife, Gay and other Rotary officials.
Maloney, the first Chair of the Rotary Foundation to visit Nigeria, is on a mission to assess the organization’s ongoing efforts in the country
He commended the impact of Rotary International’s maternal and child health intervention through a $2 million Program of Scale grant to Nigeria.
Maloney reaffirmed the commitment of Rotary International to the campaign to eradicate polio in Nigeria assuring that the country has the opportunity to receive further grants from the organization.
His reassurance is coming amidst the current threat by the polio virus type 2 variant in spite of the feat achieved by the country which was declared polio-free in 2020.
Maloney stated that while the specific amount of money allocated to Nigeria this year has not been decided, a significant amount of money could be approved during upcoming meetings in spite of the serious polio threats in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
He said, “Rotary can only do so much as a private organization. We encourage the Nigerian government to redouble its efforts to eliminate variant polio completely, freeing its health programs to tackle other pressing issues.
“There’s $50 million that I expect will be allocated at that meeting, but a lot of it has to go to Pakistan and Afghanistan where the wild poliovirus is still endemic, but I think there will be a significant tranche of funds, maybe not tens of millions, I don’t think it will be that big, but a significant amount of money allocated to Nigeria,” he said.
Aside from its huge efforts in the fight against polio, Rotary International has provided a $2 million Program of Scale grant to promote maternal and child health.
This nitiative, with the title “Healthy Families in Nigeria,” is designed to ensure a drastic reduction maternal and infant mortality.
It seeks to increase the number of successful child births in healthcare facilities in the country.
Maloney expressed his impression of the work Rotary in Nigeria has been doing, citing a district where facility-based births rose from 11% to 33% within the program’s first year.
“Though it is too early to measure the impact on mortality rates, the upward trend in medical facility usage indicates progress”.
After symbolically administering the polio vaccine to children alongside his wife, Gay, Maloney is scheduled to hold a town hall meeting with Rotarians from across Nigeria, followed by a dinner in his honor, before continuing his visit to the country with a stop in Lagos.
After symbolically administering the polio vaccine to children alongside his wife, May, Mark Maloney is set to hold a town hall meeting with Rotarians from across Nigeria followed by a dinner in his honour before proceeding to Lagos to continue his visit to the country.
Joshua Hassan, past District Governor and the Chairman of the Nigeria National Polio Plus Committee, said 92 cases of the variant poliovirus type 2 have been reported as of December 2024
According to him, the cases are concentrated in Northwestern states, particularly Kano, Zamfara, Katsina, Kebbi, and Sokoto.
Hassan likened the persistence of the variant poliovirus to the way mutations occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, emphasizing the necessity of rapid outbreak responses.
Stressing that Rotary Nigeria is committed to the eradication of the variant like it did the wild poliovirus, Hassan said, “These cases are vaccine-derived or variant strains, and they predominantly affect the northwest region. Our strategy involves swift immunizations to contain and prevent further spread”.
