LAGOS, Nigeria
Nigeria on Friday marked one year since the last case of polio was reported in the country, taking the African nation closer to its goal of eradicating the disease by 2017.
The last case of polio in the country was reported exactly one year ago on July 24, 2014 after a 16-month old boy in Kano state was diagnosed with the disease.
“If all pending laboratory investigations return negative in the next few weeks, Nigeria will officially be taken off the list of polio-endemic countries,” according to a joint statement issued Friday morning by the country's National Primary Health Care Development Agency and the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF).
The statement said Nigeria hopes to be certified polio-free by 2017 if it does not report any new cases, strengthens its surveillance system, improves routine immunization and maintains high quality campaigns.
With 122 cases, the highest polio rate in the world in 2012, Nigeria had launched a comprehensive campaign to stamp out the disease in recent years.
