A State-of-the-art polio modular laboratory has been inaugurated at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, to improve the diagnosis of the polio disease in the country.

The world class laboratory was built by the United States government, through one its agencies, USAID, in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization.

At the inauguration ceremony on Friday, the U.S. Consul General John Bray observed that though there is another W.H.O-accredited polio laboratory in Ibadan, the new facility is the first one in the country equipped to detect the wild polio virus from waste water.

According to him, the laboratory was put up at an estimated cost of $400,000.

He said: “This new facility will enhance Nigeria’s ability to respond to polio outbreaks quickly, by promptly diagnosing polio from samples received from the 48 environmental sewage sites across the country.

“The eradication of poliomyelitis will be accomplished only when polio laboratories provide convincing diagnostic evidence of the absence of wild poliovirus infections in humans and prolonged circulation in the environment.”

The inauguration ceremony was attended by dignitaries including government officials, representatives of donor agencies, UN agencies and Rotary International.

USAID has continued to support the Nigerian government through increased access to quality family planning and reproductive health services, immunizations, polio eradication, malaria prevention and maternal health services.

USAID also provides technical support to immunization campaigns through social mobilization, and other activities.