The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared Nigeria polio free, leaving the devastating disease endemic in only two countries of the world; Afghanistan and Pakistan. In a tweet to announce the feat Thursday, the WHO Nigeria @WHONigeria, said the country had completed documentation for wild polio virus-free status, and that the documentation has been accepted by the African Regional Certification Commission for polio eradication. It said: “This is a historic day for Nigeria, Africa, and the global polio programme’’ adding that this has brought the world one major step closer to achieving the goal of ending polio for good. Since 1988 when the World Health Assembly first declared the virus disease of international concern that must be eradicated by year 2000, the incidence of polio has been reduced by more than 99 percent, according to WHO statistics. At the time, more than 350,000 children were paralysed every year in more than 125 endemic countries, with Nigeria sharing a chunk of these statistics. As recent as 2012, Nigeria accounted for more than half of all polio cases worldwide, according to WHO. The country has however since the last three years not recorded a case of the virus until it was Thursday declared polio free.
