Eradication and Empowerment: Polio Vaccination in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Camps in Nigeria

Specific populations may have disadvantages such as elevated burdens of illness, injury, or lack of chance to attain good health. Such diverse populations may be defined by various factors, commonly including race or ethnicity, education, income, disability, geographic location, gender, or sexual orientation. It is vital that public health practitioners tackle preventable health disparities in underprivileged vulnerable populations, especially in communities where acts of violence inhibit Polio eradication efforts. One of the key preventable illnesses to consider when looking at the health status of Nigerians in the North is Polio. Cultural competency and understanding diversity are critical to developing effective and equitable public health interventions to meet such needs. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Poliomyelitis more commonly known as “Polio” has been eradicated in most nations around the world; except 4 countries in recent years (Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, and Nigeria) and that is a shocking statistic. This fact causes a lot of "PAIN” to see individuals afflicted with a preventable disease that has already been eradicated in most countries in the world, but the good news is that eradication is possible. That means in our planning efforts we need to ensure the safety and security of our health care professionals charged to carry out immunization activities in these risky areas are priority-and can possibly overcome this insecurity challenge by using drone delivery of the polio vaccines in high risk communities in partnership with the Ministry of Defense. “Polio is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus and invades the nervous system, and can cause total paralysis in a matter of hours and is commonly found in the target group of children under the age of five”. Nigeria is the most populated country in Africa with a population of over 160 million people, and unfortunately the only African country on the continent left with active Polio cases. Results from the systemic reviews of evidence-based studies show that people need access to the right information and innovations, good quality affordable health care, and preventable immunization tools like polio vaccines. In conclusion, there is power in partnership with both public and private sector community partners, and parents of children-who are the most vulnerable, for targeted nationwide immunization days using innovative strategies that are very beneficial to protect children from Polio (See Figure 1: “The Fight to End Polio”).