POST 00258 : POLIO ERADICATION TARGET

Post00258 POLIO ERADICATION TARGET 19 June 2000 CONTENTS 1. CORRECTION: POLIO ERADICATION TARGET NOW 2005 2. POLIO NEWS 1. CORRECTION: POLIO ERADICATION TARGET NOW 2005 In Post00252, Polio Eradication Target Now 2005, 18 May 2000, TECHNET Forum posted an article from the associated Press: "UN Polio Campaign Suffers Setbacks" Associated Press (www.ap.org) (05/15/00); by Higgins, Alexander G., on the setting of the final target for global polio-free certification. Hans Everts, WHO/V&B, kindly provides this correction to the AP article and reminds us of the polio eradication timeline. From: [[email protected]][email protected][/email] Date: Wed, 07 Jun 2000 08:44:11 +0200 To: Subject: RE: Post00252 POLIO ERADICATION TARGET NOW 2005 A small, but important clarification to the text of AG Higgins is necessary. It is not correct to say that "The goal will be extended to 2005". The goal has always been to achieve global certification in the year 2005. That date has not changed. The timeline was the following: 2000 interruption of transmission, 2002 containment of laboratory stocks of polio virus, 2005 certification. It turns out that, in spite of impressive progress, polio virus transmission will probably not have been completely interrupted in a number of countries by the end of 2000. However, there should be 3 years between interruption of transmission (with high quality surveillance) and certification. Not completely achieving the 2000 goal therefore does not change the final target date. Hans Everts Technical Officer EPI WHO Geneva Tel: 00 41 33 791 3683 ____________________________________*______________________________________ 2. POLIO NEWS Selected news items reprinted under the fair use doctrine of international copyright law: http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html Contributions, comments and additions please: [[email protected]][email protected][/email] or use your reply button ___________________________________________________________________________ "Progress Toward Global Poliomyelitis Eradication, 1999" Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (http://www2.cdc.gov/mmwr) (04/28/00) Vol. 49, No. 16, P. 349 The World Health Assembly's goal to eliminate polio by the end of 2000 is progressing because of new eradication strategies and a global focus. In 1999, about 470 million children under age five in 83 countries received the polio vaccine during National Immunization Days. Many children were reached through house-to-house immunization efforts. An intensified effort during the beginning of 2000 reached many areas under conflict, including India and Afghanistan. The number of countries with endemic polio fell from 50 to 30 between 1998 and 1999; however, reported polio cases increased 10 percent because of increased acute flaccid paralysis reporting and an outbreak of wild poliovirus type 3 in Angola. Much progress has been made in ending polio in the six World Health Organization regions, with the help of the World Bank, the United Nations Foundation, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. --- Afghanistan polio vaccinations due GENEVA (AP) - The United Nations will carry out a campaign to immunize 4.5 million children in Afghanistan against polio this weekend, taking advantage of a promised cease-fire between the country's warring factions. It will be the second of four rounds of vaccinations to protect children against the crippling disease. The first round, held May 1-3, was considered a success, and the truce agreed on by the ruling Taliban militia and its opponents was respected. More than 150 new cases of polio were reported last year in Afghanistan, one of about 30 countries where the disease still exists. The United Nations wants to eradicate polio worldwide by 2005. --- "UN Polio Vaccinations Bring War to a Halt" Australian Broadcasting News Online (www.abc.net.au) (06/04/00) Afghanistan halted its fighting for the weekend to let the United Nations perform a polio vaccine campaign. The Taliban has been fighting northern opposition, but held a brief cease-fire to let volunteers in with medicine and food. Volunteers went house to house in Kabul with the polio vaccine for children under age five. The goal was to immunize 4.5 million children during the break. --- "Angola to Vaccinate Over 205,000 Children Against Polio" PANA Wire Service (www.africanews.org/PANA) (06/11/00) Over 205,000 children in 11 towns in central Angola were to receive the polio vaccine on Sunday. According to Amos Domingos, the head of the expanded immunization program, Huambo province had received more than 286, 000 doses of polio vaccines. Improved security in the war-torn nation is a key factor in the expected success of first phase of the immunization campaign. --- "Angola: UNICEF Polio Campaign" Africa News Service (www.africanews.org) (06/15/00) The UNICEF polio campaign in Angola reached 20 percent more children in Luanda province than in previous years. Dr. Oscar Casteillo said 85,000 children were vaccinated last weekend, due to the use of door-to-door volunteers. UNICEF said that members of the mining company DeBeers, the World Health Organization, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and nongovernmental organizations assisted the campaign. UNICEF noted, however, that areas outside of government control were not reached during the effort. --- "Progress Toward Poliomyelitis Eradication--African Region, 1999-March 2000" Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (http://www2.cdc.gov/mmwr) (05/26/00) Vol. 49, No. 20, P. 445 The African Region (AFR) of the World Health Organization started polio eradication efforts in 1996, to reach the goal of eradicating poliomyelitis by 2000. AFR consists of 48 countries, which had low vaccine coverage in western and central Africa, including Angola and Ethiopia. From January 1999 to March 2000, national immunization days (NIDs) took place in 35 countries where polio is endemic or was then considered endemic. There was a 50 percent increase in the number of children who received at least two doses of oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV). More NIDs were performed through Angola, Chad, and other countries in the region at this time. Nigeria had a target of 13 million children, and reached 10 percent to 40 percent more children in each of the 37 states targeted than had been reported in previous NID rounds. For 1999, wild poliovirus was found in 238 patients, mainly in central and western Africa. Wars and civil strife have made it hard to reach unvaccinated children in Angola, Congo, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. Last year, Angola had an outbreak of polio--the largest outbreak of the disease ever recorded in Africa, with 1,093 cases and 89 deaths-- showing the need for better surveillance and increased NIDs. --- "Botswana to Be Polio Free by End of 2000" PANA Wire Service (www.africanews.org/PANA) (05/18/00) Botswana will start next week an immunization campaign aimed to eradicate polio by the end of the year. The health ministry noted that refugees from Namibia and Angola cross into Botswana, sometimes carrying the wild poliovirus. The campaign starts Monday in northern districts bordering Angola or Namibia, targeting children under age five. --- "Southern Indian States Free of Polio: Government" Agence France Presse (www.afp.com) (06/03/00) The southern states of India have become polio-free as the government hopes to eradicate the disease from the subcontinent by next year. New Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal still have high virus transmission, however. For the fiscal year ended March 31, the Indian government spent $125 million to vaccinate millions of children against the disease. In addition, it is estimated that 750 million doses of polio vaccine are needed in India for vaccination efforts in 2000-2001, down from 1.1 billion doses administered last year. In November alone, 135 million Indian children under the age of five were vaccinated against the disease. --- POLIOMYELITIS - INDIA: ALERT A ProMED-mail post Date: 4 May 2000 From: M. Cosgriff Source: Times of India, 4 May 2000 [edited] Alert has been sounded in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal after a large number of polio cases were reported in these states. While the disease is on its way out in the rest of the country, the polio eradication programme has been ineffective in these states. In a series of meetings in Delhi on Monday and Tuesday, officials from the Union health and family welfare ministry, World Health Organisation, United Nations Children's Fund and Rotary International chalked out several new measures to tackle the disease in the four states. The new measures are: * Beefing up the routine immunization machinery. * District collectors will once again be involved in the programme to raise motivation levels. * Vernacular media will be used for publicizing the programme. * Emphasis on pockets of minority concentration where many myths exist. One of them is that the vaccine causes impotency. * Greater involvement of schoolchildren in getting parents to bring their babies for immunization. - ProMED-mail e-mail: [[email protected]][email protected][/email] ....................chc/ds The information contained in this publication has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but the accuracy and completeness of the information, and any statements or opinions based thereon, are not guaranteed. This publication is intended for informational purposes and is not meant to substitute for the advice provided by a medical professional. Always consult a physician if you have personal health concerns. Visit ProMED-mail's web site at . ____________________________________*______________________________________