Polio resurgence casts doubt on global eradication hope
…As Bill Gates spends $750 million to tackle polio
Ever since the launch of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) in 1988, spearheaded by the World Health Organisation (WHO), Rotary International, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), the thrust behind the initiative was to interrupt transmission of Wild Polio Virus (WPV) as soon as possible; achieve certification of global polio eradication, contribute to health systems development, strengthen routine immunisation and surveillance for communicable diseases in a systematic way.
With the falling cases of polio globally by over 99 percent in 2010, only four countries across the globe remained polio-endemic (Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Nigeria). Sadly, the plan to stop the transmission of polio by the end of 2012 has become a major doubt, despite billions of dollars spent over the past decade to eradicate the disease.
This declaration is coming on the heels of resurgence of polio virus in places where it had disappeared and cases continue to rise in Pakistan and Nigeria, two of four endemic countries. In a report of June 30 to July 1, 2011 of the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) meeting published last week, the board admitted that the global plan to stop polio transmission by 2012 is “at risk”.
Liam Donaldson, chairman, IMB revealed that the board sees the persistence of polio in Nigeria and other African countries, as well as in some Asian countries, as a global health emergency.
While stating that success for the campaign is highly prized because polio - an incurable disease that causes death and disability, mainly among children which would become only the second global disease in history to be eliminated, Donaldson noted that despite rising spending on the campaign, cases of polio hasn’t declined, with Nigeria being the worst affected African country where polio is still endemic.
The polio monitoring board also expressed worries over the ‘surprise’ outbreak of polio said to have occurred in 14 countries across the world, including nine Africa countries: the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, Gabon, Niger, Senegal, Liberia, Mali and Uganda.
In the meantime, the Weekly Polio Update published by GPEI showed that a new polio case was officially reported last week in Nigeria – a Wild Polio Virus type 1 (WPV1), with an onset of paralysis on June 8, from Kebbi State, bringing the total number of cases for 2011 to 20. The most recent case, a WPV1 from Kumbotso Local Council, Kano State, with onset of paralysis on June 10 was reported last week.
However, preparations are on-going in 11 high-risk states in the north of the country for the next Immunisation Plus Day (IPD) scheduled for July 28 to 31. A mix of bivalent Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) and trivalent OPV will be used.
Meanwhile, to ensure optimal planning and implementation of the IPD, additional 18 senior supervisors have been deployed from southern areas to support polio-infected areas. The report maintained that environmental surveillance has commenced in Nigeria with the first virus samples from Kano State arriving at the Ibadan laboratory this week for testing.
While UNICEF officials believe that signs of resurgence of polio cases is threatening to erase gains that have been made towards the near eradication of the disease in Nigeria, a decrease in vaccinations, caused by lack of public health facilities and parents’ frustration by government’s insistence that they immunise their children against polio, while drugs for more rampant diseases like malaria and cholera are lacking. Another challenge is the competence as well as quality of immunisation and surveillance programmes being deployed in the eradication of the polio virus.
With Nigeria seeding other places in the number of polio cases detected lately, a holistic approach towards eradicating the disease should be put in place given numerous financial assistance by donors, including Rotary International, Centres for Disease Control, United Nations Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as the World Bank through which health authorities in the country can deploy to ensure the eradication of the disease.
No doubt, lessons from effective engagement with traditional leaders could find application in the effort to improve maternal and child health outcomes especially in Northern Nigeria.
For Muhammad Pate, minister of State for Health, “The polio eradication effort is not only about polio; it is about delivering an effective vaccine to prevent a serious disease that depends on a functioning health system to succeed. Polio eradication can be a potent arrow head for transforming routine immunisation and primary health care systems. Financial and human resources technical capacities for the Polio Eradication Initiative can be used to move the health systems agenda forward.”
Recall that the World Health Organisation’s original target, set in 1988- a polio-free world by 2000- proved illusory. However, Bill Gates, co-chair, Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation, disclosed early in the year that he had spent about $750m on polio eradication in Nigeria. Gates revealed that the global coverage of the campaign had cost him $8billion, even as an additional $2.6billion would be spent on completely eradicating the disease.
The Independent Monitoring Board is led by WHO, UNICEF, Rotary International and the US, Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, in partnership with several governments and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
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| A child been immunised with polio vaccine |
Ever since the launch of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) in 1988, spearheaded by the World Health Organisation (WHO), Rotary International, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), the thrust behind the initiative was to interrupt transmission of Wild Polio Virus (WPV) as soon as possible; achieve certification of global polio eradication, contribute to health systems development, strengthen routine immunisation and surveillance for communicable diseases in a systematic way.
With the falling cases of polio globally by over 99 percent in 2010, only four countries across the globe remained polio-endemic (Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Nigeria). Sadly, the plan to stop the transmission of polio by the end of 2012 has become a major doubt, despite billions of dollars spent over the past decade to eradicate the disease.
This declaration is coming on the heels of resurgence of polio virus in places where it had disappeared and cases continue to rise in Pakistan and Nigeria, two of four endemic countries. In a report of June 30 to July 1, 2011 of the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) meeting published last week, the board admitted that the global plan to stop polio transmission by 2012 is “at risk”.
While stating that success for the campaign is highly prized because polio - an incurable disease that causes death and disability, mainly among children which would become only the second global disease in history to be eliminated, Donaldson noted that despite rising spending on the campaign, cases of polio hasn’t declined, with Nigeria being the worst affected African country where polio is still endemic.
The polio monitoring board also expressed worries over the ‘surprise’ outbreak of polio said to have occurred in 14 countries across the world, including nine Africa countries: the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, Gabon, Niger, Senegal, Liberia, Mali and Uganda.
In the meantime, the Weekly Polio Update published by GPEI showed that a new polio case was officially reported last week in Nigeria – a Wild Polio Virus type 1 (WPV1), with an onset of paralysis on June 8, from Kebbi State, bringing the total number of cases for 2011 to 20. The most recent case, a WPV1 from Kumbotso Local Council, Kano State, with onset of paralysis on June 10 was reported last week.
However, preparations are on-going in 11 high-risk states in the north of the country for the next Immunisation Plus Day (IPD) scheduled for July 28 to 31. A mix of bivalent Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) and trivalent OPV will be used.
Meanwhile, to ensure optimal planning and implementation of the IPD, additional 18 senior supervisors have been deployed from southern areas to support polio-infected areas. The report maintained that environmental surveillance has commenced in Nigeria with the first virus samples from Kano State arriving at the Ibadan laboratory this week for testing.
While UNICEF officials believe that signs of resurgence of polio cases is threatening to erase gains that have been made towards the near eradication of the disease in Nigeria, a decrease in vaccinations, caused by lack of public health facilities and parents’ frustration by government’s insistence that they immunise their children against polio, while drugs for more rampant diseases like malaria and cholera are lacking. Another challenge is the competence as well as quality of immunisation and surveillance programmes being deployed in the eradication of the polio virus.
With Nigeria seeding other places in the number of polio cases detected lately, a holistic approach towards eradicating the disease should be put in place given numerous financial assistance by donors, including Rotary International, Centres for Disease Control, United Nations Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as the World Bank through which health authorities in the country can deploy to ensure the eradication of the disease.
No doubt, lessons from effective engagement with traditional leaders could find application in the effort to improve maternal and child health outcomes especially in Northern Nigeria.
For Muhammad Pate, minister of State for Health, “The polio eradication effort is not only about polio; it is about delivering an effective vaccine to prevent a serious disease that depends on a functioning health system to succeed. Polio eradication can be a potent arrow head for transforming routine immunisation and primary health care systems. Financial and human resources technical capacities for the Polio Eradication Initiative can be used to move the health systems agenda forward.”
Recall that the World Health Organisation’s original target, set in 1988- a polio-free world by 2000- proved illusory. However, Bill Gates, co-chair, Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation, disclosed early in the year that he had spent about $750m on polio eradication in Nigeria. Gates revealed that the global coverage of the campaign had cost him $8billion, even as an additional $2.6billion would be spent on completely eradicating the disease.
The Independent Monitoring Board is led by WHO, UNICEF, Rotary International and the US, Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, in partnership with several governments and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
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