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Provisional Agenda
Polio facts

Challenges Faced in Polio Eradication

Polio eradication faces three main challenges:

1. Access: Securing access to all children, especially those in conflict-affected countries, is crucial. The success in establishing access, cease-fires and "Days of Tranquillity" for countries such as Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo demonstrates the feasibility of working successfully in conflict-affected areas.
   
   These efforts must be expanded, drawing upon the strengths of the UN Secretary-General's office, many UN agencies, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent movement, and other new and existing partners.
   
   
2. Funding: Necessary financial resources must be secured to purchase OPV, plan and implement national immunization days and mop-up campaigns, and cover surveillance and laboratory costs.
   
   The total external financial support needed through to 2005-- the target date for certification --is US $1 billion. The financial shortfall is US $450 million. A failure to interrupt transmission within the next 24 months will increase the cost of the programme by an estimated US$ 200 million.
   
   
3. Political commitment: Sustaining political commitment from the highest levels of government is particularly challenging in the face of a disappearing disease. In polio- endemic countries, personal monitoring by the head of state of the progress towards eradication is key to improving the quality of activities. In polio-free countries, political commitment is needed for sustaining certification-standard surveillance and achieving laboratory containment of poliovirus.

In addition, priority reservoir countries require a special effort, including extra national immunization days (NIDs) and house-to-house mop-up campaigns in large geographic areas. Better surveillance is needed to find the last cases in every country and evaluate the status for certification.

Once polio is eradicated, the laboratories of the world will be the only remaining source of the virus. As an increasing number of countries become polio-free, the virus needs to be safely and securely stored in laboratories to ensure no inadvertent release occurs after eradication.

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