|
| |
Dear polio eradication supporter,
Each year, the World Health Assembly marks a moment to outline the health challenges facing the global community, reflect on progress made in the previous year and recommit to building a healthier world. At this year’s gathering, Dr Tedros (Director-General, WHO) and other global public health leaders emphasized that polio eradication is possible – but only if the world acts quickly before this window of opportunity closes. To achieve success, they urged the Assembly to reach every last child with polio vaccines, with special focus on “zero-dose children” who have never been immunized, and to respond urgently to polio outbreaks of all types while building on progress to achieve a sustainable polio transition. Also at the Assembly, African health ministers sought ways to bolster polio outbreak response.
The next month is full of milestones to bring the global community together around the goal of a polio-free world, as we head towards the Global Polio Eradication Initiative’s (GPEI) pledging moment at the World Health Summit in October. From 4-8 June, Rotarians will meet at the Rotary International Convention in Houston, USA, to discuss and improve efforts in global service and polio eradication. If you’d like to join in virtually, registration is open now. June 2022 also marks 20 years since Europe was certified free of wild polio, an incredible achievement for the programme. As we celebrate this milestone, however, we must recognize the need to fully fund the GPEI strategy and protect our progress against a comeback of any kind of poliovirus.
|
|
Building a healthier, fairer, more secure world
Ministers of Health and Development from the G7 countries met this month in Berlin, where vaccine equity and pandemic preparedness were top of mind. The global effort to eradicate polio has a key role to play in building capacity for each of these, especially in developing countries, where the G7 aims to support health efforts despite ongoing global crises. As these ministers recognized in their communiqué, continuing to strengthen and integrate polio and other public health efforts into broader health systems will help us to achieve a more secure, healthier world.
Need for speed in the last mile of polio eradication
The recent importation of wild poliovirus reported in Malawi earlier this year—and again this month into Mozambique—is a firm reminder that polio anywhere remains a threat to children everywhere. While these cases do not threaten the African Region’s wild polio-free certification, both countries, as well as others in the region, have acted swiftly to strengthen their disease surveillance and improve coverage with polio vaccines. Replicating quick responses like these is needed across the continent to protect against all forms of poliovirus. Other examples of rapid response include recent campaigns conducted in occupied Palestinian Territory
In many areas still working to stop polio transmission, some of the strongest support for eradication comes from outside the polio program. Community members like Takatiti, a musician in The Gambia, and Nyuma Mkandawire, a polio survivor and shoe doctor in Malawi, use their platforms to encourage trust around the polio vaccine. Read—and hear—how they make their mark on polio in these new stories from UNICEF.
|
POLIO IN NUMBERS
Wild Poliovirus in 2022 (2021)*
Global Total: 8 (2)
Circulating Vaccine Derived Poliovirus in 2022 (2021)*
Global Total: 103 (91)
*Data as of 31 May2022. Numbers in brackets represent data at this time in 2021.
Breakdown by country
Polio this week
|
POLIO IN THE NEWS
GatesNotes: Optimism and resolve on Pakistan’s last mile to end polio (Bill Gates, 24 May 2022)
GPEI: For many Palestinian parents, vaccination comes first (20 May 2022)
GPEI: Coffee with polio experts:
Dr Ananda Bandyopadhyay, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (19 May 2022)
The Guardian: Mozambique confirms first wild poliovirus case in 30 years (Peter Beaumont, 19 May 2022)
Project Syndicate: Funding the polio eradication endgame (Minda Dentler, 16 May 2022)
Global Health Matters: Paths to a disease-free world: Control, eliminate, eradicate (10 May 2022)
|
DONOR UPDATES
UNICEF would like to thank the United Nations Foundation for their generous contribution of US$ 1 667 470 that will support vaccine procurement.
WHO would like to thank Luxembourg for a €700 000 contribution to polio eradication activities worldwide and for outstanding political support throughout the years.
|
Takatiti, a musician in The Gambia, uses his music to engage parents, children and communities around polio vaccination efforts and drive trust in the vaccine. © UNICEF
|
|
|
|
