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 After a global effort to wipe out polio, there were just 22 cases on
earth last year, down from 350,000 30 years ago, according to the
World Health Organization. But until the disease is fully eradicated
there is always a risk it could return, putting children at risk
worldwide.
Nigeria was on the verge of eradicating the virus but recorded its
first case in two years in 2016.
It is now one of only three countries left on earth where polio
still exists, along with Pakistan and Afghanistan, the WHO says.
Nigeria has recorded no new cases in 21 months and could be
certified polio free by July 2019 if none are found.
The 20-year loan comes with a 1.25 percent interest rate and no
payments are due for five years. The funds would be applied in 12
states, mostly in the northern part of Nigeria, some of which have
been hit by Boko Haram insurgency.
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Adeosun said the World Bank loan would help the government achieve
and sustain at least 80 percent oral polio vaccine coverage in every
state in Nigeria and improve immunization as part of a global polio
eradication effort.
Billionaire Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates told Reuters in March
that his Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was pushing vaccination
against polio in conflict-hit northeast Nigeria and Chad, and has
committed $1.6 billion so far in Nigeria, its biggest investment in
Africa.
In June, the World Bank approved a total of $2.1 billion in
concessionary loans to fund projects in Nigeria.
(Reporting by Felix Onuah; Writing by Chijioke Ohuocha; Editing by
Peter Graff)
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