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Global polio eradication campaign on track

Monday, 15 May 2000: Lead agencies in the global effort to eradicate polio today issued a statement calling for intensified efforts and additional resources for the areas of Africa and the Indian sub-continent where there would be continued transmission of poliovirus at the end of the year 2000.

The World Health Organization, Rotary International, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and UNICEF, said that although up to 20 countries were likely to have poliovirus circulating at the end of the year 2000, the initiative was on track to certify the world polio-free in year 2005.

More than 190 countries and territories will have interrupted poliovirus transmission by the end of the year 2000, they said. This announcement followed the Global Technical Consultative Group on Poliomyelitis (TCG) which met last week to review progress in the remaining 30 endemic countries.

On the opening day of the 53rd World Health Assembly (WHA), WHO Director-General Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland informed Member States of the global status of the initiative:

"The certification date for global eradication of polio is 2005 and we are on track to meet that target. But there is no room for complacency. Ironically in the final phase, in order to mop up pockets of poliovirus to reach every child and to ensure eradication, immunization efforts need to intensify."

Success in three regions puts the initiative on track for global certification in 2005: the Americas were certified polio-free in 1994; the Western Pacific region which includes China is on track for certification in November 2000, and Europe in 2002. The number of cases has fallen by 95 per cent since the initiative was launched in 1988.

The TCG highlighted geographical areas likely to have continued transmission at the end of year 2000 which needed particular attention: four northern states in India; countries affected by conflict in sub-Saharan Africa; large reservoirs of the virus, in particular Bangladesh, Nigeria and Pakistan.

Reasons for continued transmission were identified as:

• restricted access to children, particularly in countries where there is war;
• late detection of cases in some areas with below certification standard surveillance;
• insufficient supply of vaccine to fully implement acceleration plans;
• a funding gap;
• low routine immunization coverage.

Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of UNICEF, said that Days of Tranquillity, when combatants have agreed to lay down arms in order to allow immunization campaigns to proceed, must be observed now in countries where armed conflicts are underway.

"In the final drive to eradicate polio, the premium is on 100 per cent coverage," Ms. Bellamy said. "This will not occur unless urgent steps are taken to ensure access to every child in every area that is hard to reach and in every country where armed conflict makes the simple, life-saving act of immunization impossible."

Dr. Brundtland appealed to Member States to ensure high quality of surveillance, National Immunization Days and house-to-house campaigns to reach every child in every country. Dr. Brundtland urged health ministers to advocate to their Heads of State for a multi-sectoral approach built on collaboration among government sectors such as education, transport, communication and armed forces, and to personally monitor national progress and ensure that sufficient numbers of people are rapidly deployed to work on polio eradication.

"Today we are at the forefront of the victory in the fight to end polio," said Rotary International President Carlo Ravizza. "As we enter the most difficult phase of the eradication campaign, Rotary remains steadfast in its commitment to achieve the ultimate goal of a polio-free world by 2005." By that date, Rotary will have contributed US $500 million to polio eradication.

"Our experience demonstrates that polio eradication is technically feasible, we have the right vaccine and the right strategies to rid the world of this terrible crippling disease," said Dr. Jeffrey Koplan, Director of CDC. "The key to success will be reaching every child during NIDs and mop-ups."

The Polio Eradication Initiative launched in 1988 is spearheaded by WHO, Rotary International, CDC and UNICEF. The coalition is made up of national governments; private foundations (e.g. United Nations Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation); development banks (e.g. World Bank); donor governments (e.g. Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK and US), and corporate partners (e.g. Aventis Pasteur, De Beers).

Also see:
A world without polio

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