- Title: Two of three polio viruses eradicated in 'historic' step: WHO
- Date: 25th October 2019
- Summary: POINTE NOIRE, CONGO (FILE) (REUTERS) POLIO VACCINE BEING ADMINISTERED HEALTH WORKER TAKING NOTES CHILD AND FATHER RECEIVING VACCINE STUDENTS LINING UP TO GET VACCINATED STUDENT GETTING THEIR FINGER MARKED WITH FELT PEN AFTER VACCINATION
- Embargoed: 8th November 2019 12:58
- Keywords: Polio vaccine vaccination viruses polio eradication certificate of eradication
- Location: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND/ POINTE NOIRE, CONGO/ BORNO STATE, NIGERIA
- City: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND/ POINTE NOIRE, CONGO/ BORNO STATE, NIGERIA
- Country: Switzerland
- Topics: Health/Medicine
- Reuters ID: LVA002B2LILW7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The World Health Organization welcomed a "historic step" toward a polio-free world on Thursday (October 24) as an expert panel certified that the second of three types of the crippling virus has been eradicated globally.
The announcement by the Global Commission for the Certification of Poliomyelitis Eradication means that only wild polio virus type 1 is still circulating, after type 2 was declared eradicated in 2015, and type 3 this week.
The announcement coincided with the World Polio Day, marked on 24 October.
It also comes three years after a last case of Type 1 polio virus has been reported in 2016 in Nigeria.
"GCC concluded at its meeting last week that wild type 3 polio has been eradicated world-wide. This wonderful news tells us that polio can be eradicated. Two of the polio virus strains are gone and only type 1 polio remains and that only in Pakistan and Afghanistan," said Professor David Salisbury, Chair of the Global Commission for Certification of Poliomyelitis Eradication (GCC).
Global polio cases have been cut by more than 99 percent since 1988 but type 1 polio virus is still endemic in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where it has infected a total of 88 people this year. That is a resurgence from a record low global annual figure of 22 cases in 2017.
Salisbury urged countries to be vigilant and strengthen vaccinations as well as boost surveillance to find polio viruses.
Polio invades the nervous system and can cause irreversible paralysis within hours. It cannot be cured, but infection can be prevented by vaccination - and a dramatic reduction in cases world-wide in recent decades has been due to intense national and regional immunization campaigns in babies and children.
In unvaccinated populations, however, polio viruses can re-emerge and spread swiftly.
Cases of vaccine-derived polio can also occur in places where immunity is low and sanitation is poor, as vaccinated people can excrete the virus, putting the unvaccinated at risk.
"The infrastructure we have built must not die with polio. The investment in polio are vital investments in stronger health system and Universal Health Coverage. The same health workers who deliver polio vaccines have helped fight Ebola, cholera and other disease outbreaks, address malnutrition, provide measles vaccinations, deworming tablets, and malaria bed nets. It's a great example of how this disease-specific program can contribute to Health Systems strengthening and our goal of universal health coverage," said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the WHO.
The Philippines last month said it was planning an emergency vaccination campaign after polio re-surfaced and caused the first two recorded polio cases there for 20 years. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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