Our man in Nigeria revealsafrica is on brink of polio victory

As the coronavirus pandemic continues, there is some good news as Africa prepares to eradicate one of the world’s most devastating diseases.

And a Scots civil servant has emerged as the unlikely hero in the battle to wipe out polio.

A vaccine was developed in 1955 after a series of outbreaks that killed up to 30% of adult sufferers and left many others, including children, disabled. But John Primrose has played a key role in stamping out the highly-contagious disease in Nigeria, meaning Africa is on the brink of being declared polio-free.

There have been no cases in the country for three and a half years, whereas in 2012 Nigeria had half of all polio infections in the world.

An announcement – due next month – about Africa being polio-free will leave only Pakistan and Afghanistan with cases. Mr Primrose, the acting head of country for the Department for International Development in Nigeria, said: “For Africa to be on the brink of being declared wild poliovirus free is momentous. Nigeria is the final piece of the jigsaw. It’s now been over three and a half years since there was a wild poliovirus case detected in the country.

“If the final push to eradicate polio in Nigeria and Africa is confirmed as successful, we’ll only have Pakistan and Afghanistan to go.”

Coronavirus has been dominating

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can ease the strain on fragile health systems to help poorer countries better deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. “The coronavirus lockdown restrictions, added to continued violence, have complicated our ability to wipe out the threat of this killer disease. However, we are working with the Nigerian authorities to keep frontline workers safe, improve vaccine delivery in the time of Covid-19, and ensure continued coverage.

“We are playing a key role in making the world polio-free. The UK Government’s Gavi pledge alone will help immunise up to 75 million children in the world’s poorest countries.” He added: “Nigeria is a challenging place to deliver health care, especially in the north-east where over 4.5 million people have been displaced by terrorist groups like Boko Haram. Nigeria has the world’s second-highest maternal mortality, second-highest mortality, and the highest number of malaria cases in the world, so there is still much work to do.”