Polio Control Programme V

completed

The FC-funded programme to interrupt the transmission of the polio virus in Nigeria is contributing to the global eradication of polio. Since 1988, polio infections have been reduced by 99 percent worldwide. Polio is now only endemic in three countries: Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria. The substantive basis for the FC project is the emergency plan developed by the Nigerian government in cooperation with WHO and UNICEF in May 2012 and updated annually. The plan aims to interrupt the transmission of the polio virus by 2013/2014 as part of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI). While in the first three FC polio programmes, vaccines for the vaccination campaigns were financed and procured by UNICEF Copenhagen, from programme phase IV onwards, operational costs for the implementation of the Nigerian emergency plan will be financed. The direct target group of the polio programme are all children under the age of five in the twelve high-risk states of Nigeria. However, the entire population of the country and that of neighboring countries also benefit indirectly from the measures. The indicator for the FC project is: In 2014, no new cases of disease caused by the wild polio virus occurred. The total cost of the Nigerian polio emergency plan for 2012/13 was around USD 415 million. The FC contribution in programme phase V amounts to EUR 31.5 million and is helping to close acute funding gaps in the area of operational costs. The developmental effectiveness and visibility of the FC contribution benefit from the fact that the funds were made available at relatively short notice. The payment of programme phase V funds to WHO and UNICEF at the end of 2013, which was planned due to the GPEI funding bottlenecks, was achieved.