The acclaimed reply from Jonas Salk when asked whether he’d be patenting his breakthrough polio vaccine. With no recorded cases since 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) African region’s certification as wild poliovirus-free is one of the greatest achievements in public health history. However, as with the Covid-19 pandemic, the lesson is that it’s never too late to turn a disease outbreak around. Through hard work, new innovations and ensuring that no child was missed, Nigeria and the entire African region have now defeated polio. Across the region, health workers go village-to-village and door-to-door vaccinating children multiple times and offering health advice and support to the community.

Source: The Star August 25, 2020 14:15 UTC