Availability Of Afp Specimen Collection Kits And Data Tools In Health Facilities In Selected States In Nigeria

Background: Acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) surveillance was adopted globally as a key strategy for monitoring the progress of the polio eradication initiative. The main objective of AFP surveillance is to detect the presence of circulating wild-type poliovirus and other subtypes of polioviruses. Stool specimen collection kits for AFP surveillance and data tools, regrettably are not always available in health facilities, and thus cause gaps in specimen collection and proper documentation which could ultimately lead to under-reporting of cases. Methods: This survey was undertaken to determine the availability of stool collection kits and data capturing tools in health facilities in some randomly selected states in Nigeria. The main aim was to relate the findings with the quality of the surveillance system in the areas visited and an overall indication of the functionality of the process in the country. Results: The outcome of the study found only 32,598 (74.7%) health facilities out of the 43,644 health facilities who visited and had stool specimen collection kits, while of the 43,582 health facilities visited, only 38,029 (87.3%) health facilities had data tools. Conclusions: Gaps were noticed in the supply of key AFP surveillance components to the health facilities visited, which by extension could apply to those not visited. Countries that are still polio-endemic will have to regularly survey their facilities for the availability of these very important materials. The methodology can be adapted to other diseases to evaluate the strength of the surveillance system.