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Dear polio eradication supporter,
This past month, Polio leaders travelled to Pakistan on an extraordinary operations visit, meeting with newly-appointed Pakistan leaders committed to delivering polio-free country. Director of Polio Eradication at WHO Headquarters and Chair of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) Strategy Committee Aidan O’Leary from WHO and Richard Franka, Team Lead of the Pakistan Team at Polio Eradication Branch, CDC, met with Dr Nadeem Jan, newly-appointed interim Federal Health Minister, to discuss first-hand operations, latest developments and innovations of the country’s polio eradication effort. Also this past month, WHO hosted the Seventy-third Regional Committee Meeting for Africa in Gaborone, Botswana, where Ministers of Health from Member States pledged to intensify efforts to end polio—one year since the last confirmed detection of type one wild poliovirus on the continent. A special event on polio during the meeting sought to solidify plans to interrupt all polioviruses in the African region, with speakers including Hon Dr Edwin Dikoloti (Minister of Health and Wellness, Botswana), Dr Matshidiso Moeti (Regional Director, WHO AFRO), Dr Chris Elias (Polio Oversight Board Chair and President of Global Development, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation), and Dr Jamal Ahmed (Polio Eradication Program Coordinator, WHO AFRO). Commitment from leaders outside of Africa remains high, too: earlier this month, the G20 reaffirmed its support to the GPEI polio eradication. Commitments like these remain critical to ending polio.
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Reaching “last-mile” children
Dr Asma Ali, Senior Program Officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, takes part in critical behind-the-scenes work to ensure that frontline workers successfully deliver polio vaccines. On a recent trip to Somalia, Asma supported a groundbreaking initiative to help reach “last-mile” children, those who have not been reached by routine vaccinations, with nOPV2. Read further to hear Asma’s thoughts on the challenges involved and importance in bringing polio vaccines to Somalia.
Detecting poliovirus amidst conflict
Dr Faisal Lodhi (Emergency Consultant, WHO Regional Office for Europe) is committed to protecting the people of Ukraine and neighboring countries from the devastating consequences of polio. Despite facing challenges of his own due to a multiple sclerosis diagnosis, Dr Lodhi remains dedicated to saving as many lives as he can by helping country teams respond to polio outbreaks swiftly and efficiently. Watch this video to see why Dr Lodhi has hope for achieving a polio-free Ukraine soon.
Geo-tracking for polio response
For six years, the longest unbroken chain of variant polio transmission has been circulating through Somalia. To address this outbreak, the country developed the Somalia Emergency Action Plan, which includes the rollout of nOPV2, an innovative vaccine with the power to more sustainably stop these outbreaks. In addition, the country is prioritizing efforts to reach all children with vaccines, especially in communities that were previously out of reach due to social and political instability. Read on to learn about the other ways in which Somalia is making strides to close this lasting outbreak.
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POLIO IN NUMBERS
Wild Poliovirus in 2023 (2022)*
Global Total: 7 (21)
Circulating Vaccine Derived Poliovirus in 2023 (2022)*
Global Total: 232 (272)
*Data as of 30 August 2023. Numbers in brackets represent data at this time in 2022.
Breakdown by country Polio this week
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POLIO IN THE NEWS
Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme: Melinda French Gates meets women polio workers in virtual meeting (29 August 2023)
The New York Times: We thought we’d beat these three diseases, but they’re still killing us. (Richard Conniff, 28 August 2023)
Global Health NOW: Polio Eradication Through Innovation (Walt Orenstein, 21 August 2023)
Nature: Can the world really stop wild polio by the end of 2023? (Clare Watson, 15 August 2023)
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DONOR UPDATES
WHO would like to thank the Republic of Korea for its extraordinary support to polio eradication operations worldwide and for its financial contribution to WHO worth 1.125 billion Korean Won.
UNICEF is very grateful to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea for the generous contribution of 3.375 billion Korean Won in support of GPEI’s polio outbreak response activities towards achieving Goal Two of the Polio Eradication Strategy 2022-2026 of stopping circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV) transmission and preventing outbreaks in non-endemic countries.
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Join the MAKE POLIO HISTORY CAMPAIGN
The GPEI is launching a digital campaign, Make Polio History, to rally new and current champions to create a chorus of support for polio eradication. Through short, self-recorded videos, supporters from across the world will raise their voices and tell global leaders that eradicating polio is possible and urgently needed now. Join us here!
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A community health worker puts a mark on a child's finger after administering the polio vaccine during a door-to-door polio vaccination (nOPV2) campaign in Mogadishu, Somalia. ©Gates Archive/Ismail Taxta
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