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Dr Faisal Shuaib
The Federal government said it has constituted 12-man medical experts in readiness, as one of the measures against importation of the Wild Polio Virus outbreak in Malawi.
Chairman of the 12-member expert committee is Prof AkinOsibogun, a public health specialist.
Othermembersof the team which isdrawnfromtheacademia,themedia,donorsand
development partners including WHO, CDC and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, are; Prof Dorothy Esangbedo, Prof Shuaib Bello, Prof Clara Ejembi, Prof Sade Ogunsola, Prof B.S.C. Uzochukwu, Prof Ilayisu Zubairu, Dr. Muhammad Dallatu, Mr MannirDanAli,DrSteveCochi(CDC),MrAidanO’Leary(WHO)andJayWenger (BMGF).
“The reconstituted ERC have a renewable tenure of two years and will be inaugurated at a date to be announced soon”, said the government in a statement on Friday, February 25, and made available to News Express.
The government said one of the measures against the WPV is the reactivation and reconstitution of the Expert Review Committee on Polio Eradication and Routine Immunization (ERC).
The ERC provides expert advice and guidance on strategies and approaches for polio
eradication and routine immunization.
The committee, according to the government, meets periodically to review the country’spolioeradicationandroutineimmunizationprogrammestakinginto consideration population-based and laboratory studies, programmatic approaches, cost information, and other issues so as to provide a holistic and practical advice to the country.
Inthestatement by the ED/CEO, National Primary HealthCare Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuaib, “The ERC’s expert advice contributed immensely to the country’s achievement of WPV-free status in August 2020.
“Consequently, it has become imperative to reactivate the committee following the recent outbreak ofWPVinMalawi and the outbreaks of circulating variant of polio virus type 2 (cVPV2) in Nigeria. The ERC is expected to work withtheNationalPrimaryHealthcareDevelopmentAgencytocomeupwithmultistakeholder plans to strengthen surveillance, build population immunity, mitigate against and control all forms of polio viruses”.
