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As of this January, Nigeria should be declared polio-free according to global standards, proving the growing strength of its polio surveillance and response system. As one of three countries worldwide where polio is still endemic, this is progress. If Nigeria, a country ravaged by war and severe poverty, can successfully eradicating a disease, then any country in the world should be able to do the same.

Polio is the leading cause of disability in many Nigerian children as it targets young children under the age of 5. It is a crippling and potentially fatal bacterial infection that is characterized by paralysis and spreads through contaminated food and water. The oral polio vaccine (OPV) is a safe, effective, and relatively inexpensive vaccine that is administered to entire communities in Nigeria. In 2011, the estimated cost of a single dose was 11 to 14 US cents, making it well accepted by public health programs. Despite polio’s severe effects on the body, it is easily preventable if vaccination occurs – 99 out of 100 vaccinated children will be protected from the poliovirus.

At the national and local government levels, authorities have taken great lengths to ensure a strong polio response. Some of the effective actions include enforcing government accountability at all levels, focused oversight and coordination at emergency operation centers, continuous micro-planning strategy revisions, and focused training and team selection. In Katsina, there was a record 92% polio immunization coverage among its population, in addition to the establishment of functioning health centers in 30 out of the 34 government areas of the state. In 2013, the government saw a 58% reduction in the number of polio cases from 2012. Improved outbreak responses as well as novel strategies to immunize children in war-torn zones also ensure that every member of the population has access to vaccination and treatment.

Fighting polio is also a community effort. Polio survivors, doctors, religious leaders, and volunteer community mobilizers (VCMs) all go out in the field to educate communities about polio and the importance of vaccination. The participation of religious leaders in the campaign against polio has proved to be especially valuable in dispelling regional myths about the polio vaccine. “[In] parts of northern Nigeria there is 20 percent of the households that the parents won’t give the vaccine unless we bring in the religious leader and he really reassures them that ‘no, this is safe,’” explained Bill Gates in an interview.

The use of satellite mapping technology and more stringent accountability policies help to enforce the mounting efficiency of polio vaccination. In the past, vaccination teams falsified data by claiming to have vaccinated far more children then they actually did. Remote villages would also be skipped on their routes, but now, if they miss a remote village, GPS tracking reveals the error and they are sent back to vaccinate the village. The new system requires that every volunteer must carry satellite devices so their route can be tracked, increasing accountability and vaccination coverage.

Nigeria is abound with honest, hardworking, and clever people who have all proven their worth in its polio surveillance system. The country still has a long way to go when it comes to treating and reducing the number of infectious and deadly diseases circulating throughout its population, but with dedication and honesty, it will hopefully change.

Time Magazine’s Person of the Year is not a single person but rather, a group of people – the courageous, selfless team of volunteers and healthcare workers that selflessly sacrificed to fight Ebola. Ebola, the unofficial disease of 2014, wrecked West Africa. Already weak to begin with, the healthcare systems of Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia were ill-equipped to handle the severe pressure of Ebola. Government agencies and officials sent out an inadequate and inappropriate initial response to the epidemic which proved to be woefully short-sighted and resulted in the additional loss of thousands of lives. In the midst of the chaos, healthcare workers on the ground had to handle the epidemic virtually on their own at great personal risk.

The Ebola virus is highly infectious and fatal in 90% of all cases, making it a very difficult virus to contain and treat. As of now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that in total, there were 19,031 cases of Ebola throughout Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Of these cases, 7,373 people died. More than 600 healthcare workers were infected, and of these workers, 342 died. With no known cure for Ebola and very few treatment options, contracting the virus is practically a death knell.

Firsthand stories of fighting Ebola on the ground paint a harrowing scene of chaos, sickness, death, and uncertainty. Doctors tirelessly worked even as their colleagues contracted the virus and died, nurses provided emotional comfort to severely ill patients, ambulance drivers withstood frustrated crowds while transporting patients, investigators worked door to door tracing viral transmission, and workers sealed up corpses in body bags for proper disposal. In addition to stressful physical and mental conditions, workers experienced moral dilemmas as they were forced to turn away patients because there was not enough room at treatment centers.

Liberian Foday Gallah spoke of his decision to volunteer: “We have to do it. Nobody had come [to help], so we are the ones to pick up the cost. Fear was there, but it didn’t overtake us.” He worked as an ambulance driver transporting sick patients and was infected by the virus while helping an ill 5-year-old child. He miraculously recovered and returned to work in the field, saying that it was his duty to do so. Nelson Sayon of Monrovia volunteered to join a burial team being overseen by the Liberian Red Cross in order to help his country. On his first day, he experienced deep hostility from fearful residents and toiled for hours in the heat gathering highly infectious corpses. The stories of these two men speak volumes of the courage that all medical workers and volunteers had to summon in order to work in the field, but also of their incredible selflessness.

I cannot possibly imagine going into the field day after day, knowing that I am doing so at great personal risk while colleagues are dying around me. And yet, they did it. The Ebola fighters are heroes, common men and women who faced terrifying obstacles and made enormous sacrifices in order to help West Africa through the epidemic. In these trying and terrifying times, these people offered a shining beacon of hope. They deserve to be collectively recognized as Time’s Person of the Year and they inspire all of us to display humanity in the face of horror and grief.

The topic of Ebola has been circulating through the media lately, from stories of treatments and discussions about what world leaders are doing to combat the problem. However, what many people have failed to notice is that there is a problem developing among all affected individduals who were supposedly cured of Ebola.

West Africans fortunate enough to survive this crippling disease are at risk of developing “post-Ebola syndrome”, characterized by blindness and chronic poor health. Doctors at WHO are investigating, and one doctor spoke of how she came across two patients who are now blind, and other patients complaining of similar vision problems. The statistics are alarming – one of every two Ebola survivors reported declining health, headaches, chest pain, as well as declining vision.

This raises a larger issue about the actual efficiency and safety of the Ebola treatments that were previously hailed as entirely safe for the patients. In Sierra Leone, post-Ebola clinics are already emerging in order to care for survivors’ psychological, economic, and social news, as well as to track symptoms. Whatever the reason may be behind these chronic symptoms, one thing is clear – Ebola survivors in West Africa could likely need care for the rest of their lives.