overview
In 1988, the World Health Assembly adopted a resolution for global polio eradication, marking the launch of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), led by governments, the WHO, Rotary International, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). did. ) and UNICEF, and later the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. Since then, polio incidence around the world has decreased by 99%, and the world is on the brink of globally eradicating a human disease for the second time in history, after smallpox in 1980.
The number of wild poliovirus infections has declined by more than 99% since 1988, from an estimated 350,000 cases in more than 125 endemic countries to just two. .
Symptoms and risks
Polio is a highly contagious disease caused by a virus. It can invade the nervous system and cause complete paralysis within a few hours. The virus is primarily transmitted from person to person through the fecal-oral route and, less frequently, by common fomites (such as contaminated water or food) and multiplies in the intestines. Early symptoms include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiff neck, and pain in the limbs. One in 200 infections causes irreversible paralysis, usually in the legs. Five to 10 percent of paralyzed patients die because their respiratory muscles stop working.
Polio primarily affects children under the age of five. However, anyone of any age can contract the disease if they are not vaccinated.
There is no cure for polio; it can only be prevented. Multiple doses of polio vaccine can protect a child for life. Two vaccines are available: oral polio vaccine and inactivated polio vaccine. Both are effective and safe and are used in various combinations around the world, depending on local epidemiology and programmatic circumstances, to ensure they provide the best possible protection to populations.
eradication
Polio eradication strategies are effective if fully implemented. This is evidenced by the successful eradication of the disease in most countries around the world.
The Polio Eradication Strategy provides a roadmap to ensure a permanent and sustainable world free of all polioviruses, and the infrastructure built to eradicate polio will benefit broader public health efforts. Transition and post-polio recognition efforts are ongoing to ensure continued impact. long after the illness has been cured.
The key to success is ensuring that the strategy is fully implemented and adequately resourced in all areas. However, failure to implement a strategic approach will lead to continued transmission of the virus. Wild poliovirus remains endemic in areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Failure to stop polio in these last remaining areas could lead to a global resurgence of the disease. That’s why it’s important to eradicate polio once and for all.
Once polio is eradicated, the world can celebrate achieving a major global public good that benefits all people equally, regardless of where they live. Economic modeling shows that polio eradication could save at least US$40-50 billion, primarily in low-income countries. Most importantly, success means that no child will ever again suffer the horrific effects of lifelong polio paralysis.
The global effort to eradicate polio is declared a public health initiative of international concern under the International Health Regulations and is aimed at countries affected by poliovirus transmission or at risk of poliovirus infection. Temporary recommendations have been issued by the Emergency Committee under the International Health Regulations for countries with high levels of health. Recurrence of disease.
The polio effort extends to the broader public, including in response to natural disasters, humanitarian emergencies, droughts, earthquakes, and other infectious disease outbreaks, and in support of disease surveillance for broader public health efforts. We continue to support hygiene initiatives.
WHO response
WHO, in collaboration with GPEI partners, continues to support countries still affected by poliovirus or at high risk of polio resurgence to implement eradication strategies, with an initial focus on immunization and disease surveillance. are. Since the GPEI was launched, the number of cases has decreased by more than 99%.
In 1994, the WHO Region of the Americas was certified polio-free, followed by the WHO Western Pacific Region in 2000, and the WHO European Region in June 2002. On March 27, 2014, the WHO Southeast Asia Region was declared polio-free. This means wild poliovirus transmission has been cut off in this region of 11 countries, from Indonesia to India. In 2020, Africa became the fifth region to be declared free of wild poliovirus.
More than 20 million people who would have been paralyzed are now able to walk. An estimated 1.5 million child deaths have been prevented through systematic administration of vitamin A during polio immunization campaigns.
For more information
Visit www.polioeradication.org
