Rotary International has approved a total of $ 14,037,787 grant to support polio eradication in Nigeria through the World Health Organisation (WHO) Nigeria office.
Chairman, Nigeria National Polio Plus Committee (NNPPC), Joshua Hassan, stated this Tuesday while presenting the cheques of the grant to the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate at the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja.
He said that Rotary Foundation Trustees, at their January 2023 meeting, approved a grant of US$2,675,000 to support polio eradication in Nigeria through WHO Nigeria for surveillance.
He said an additional grant of US$ 4,514,785 dated October 2023 was again approved by Rotary Foundation Trustees for surveillance by WHO, adding that “ Finally on the 10th of January 2024 yet another grant was approved to the sum of US$ 6,848,002 for technical assistance, making a total of US$ 14,037,787.”
He said they are all one-year grants, which must be fully expended between 31st March 2024 and 2025.
Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare commended Rotary International for its consistent support for polio eradication in Nigeria in the last four decades, adding that its support contributed to the certification of Nigeria as a Wild Polio Virus (WPV) free country in 2020.
The WHO Representative in Nigeria, Dr Walter Kazadi Mulombo said the grant would be used with transparency and accountability to meet the goals and expectations of the Nigerian government.
DAILY TRUST
