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N'Djamena, 29 May 2017 (WHO): Further to the epidemiological situation in Nigeria, which recorded two (2) wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in July 2016 in two (02) Borno states after one An interval of almost two years without wild Poliovirus in the African region, the ministers of health of the countries of the Lake Chad Basin, namely Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria, Central African Republic and Chad, signed in Addis Ababa on 22 August 2016, a statement making this situation a public health emergency. This is the logic of this workshop, which aims to finalize the action plans for phase II of the response to the polio epidemic in the Lake Chad Basin countries, followed by the Consultative Meeting On Strengthening routine immunization in the context of polio eradication.
This meeting, which brings together vaccination officials from Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria, the Central African Republic and Chad, as well as technical and financial partners in polio eradication, such as WHO, UNICEF, CDC , Etc. Is also an opportunity to exchange information and experiences between countries in order to push polio out of the Lake Chad Basin, Africa and thus contribute to its definitive eradication in the world.
WHO Representative in Chad, Dr Jean-Bosco NDIHOKUBWAYO, on behalf of the partners of the Polio Eradication Initiative in Chad, said in his welcome statement that " Implementation of the Lake Coordination and the implementation of activities in the five countries of which it is composed, progress has been made since, for example, no cases of poliovirus have been reported. However, the various reports, evaluations such as the one made by OBRA (Outbreak Response Assessment) recently, and the analysis of the data still show some shortcomings: weakness in epidemiological surveillance, STIs often of average quality (with more than 5% unvaccinated children in Some districts including N'Djamena, for example, in the eastern part of the city), the complexity of reaching certain populations and certain islands makes the implementation of the activities difficult, all in a precarious security context due to Activities of the terrorists of the Boko-Haram sect ". And to add that "... In the fight against any disease including polio, the last steps are usually the most difficult. It is here that we must be the most vigilant, be sure that its system of epidemiological surveillance and robust and reliable ". In this way, he recommended that the participants work diligently during this workshop to finalize their response plans. This will help to ensure that the identified shortcomings have been addressed, the identified districts identified, and the appropriate approaches put in place and applied with the utmost rigor.
On behalf of Chad's Minister of Public Health, Dr. Ngarbatna Carmel Sou IV, Dr. Yangar Miandjingar, Director General of Environmental Health and Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, thanked the organizers of the workshop for Chosen Chad to shelter it. For Dr Yangar, the table drawn up by the WHO Representative is not singular in Chad, but there are some differences in the countries of the Lake Chad Basin, hence the need to draw up plans for Of good quality, the subject of this workshop. For him, "Chad has been committed for more than a decade to the fight against Poliomyelitis with a view to its eradication. This is a highly valuable initiative and reflects the determination of HE President IDRISS DEBY ITNO, President of the Republic, to reduce infant and child mortality and accelerate survival and Development of the child.
Since 2012, the eradication of polio has become a global programmatic public health emergency. That is why, since then, our Government, together with its partners, has implemented all polio control strategies and has successfully stopped the circulation of wild poliovirus. In June 2016, "Chad was declared by the Regional Commission of Certification of the Eradication of Polio as a country released from polio. This sense of victory and accomplishment was short-lived as in August 2016, Nigeria reported a case of wild poliovirus. The notification of this case, which reportedly circulated in the Lake Chad basin, was taken seriously by the highest authorities. Since then, Chad, like other countries in the Lake Chad Basin, has been involved in the coordinated response to the Poliomyelitis epidemic.
Remember that this workshop will be held from 29 to 31 May 2017 at the Hotel la Résidence in N'Djaména