WHO reports 99% reduction, Nigeria records 37 casesAS the world marks the Polio Day, stakeholders have called for increased commitment and greater accountability from political leaders to end the disease.The World Health Organisation (WHO) yesterday reported a 99 per cent reduction in global polio cases from estimated 350,000 cases in 1988 to 1,349 reported cases in 2010.According to the report published online by the WHO, only Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and Pakistan remained polio-endemic compared to over 125 polio-endemic countries in 1988. The reduction is the result of the global effort to eradicate the disease.Also, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) last week reported three new cases in Nigeria ' two Wild Polio Virus type 1 (WPV1s) and one WPV3 ' bringing the total number of cases for 2011 to 37. The most recent case had onset of paralysis on September 17 in the Kukawa district of Borno Sate. A case reported last week in Illela district, Sokoto State (in the country's north-west) is that district's first case for the year.The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and its global community of partners specifically called for more funding in the drive to eradicate polio.'We have an extraordinary opportunity to eradicate polio but we need greater global commitment, leadership, and funding,' said Bill Gates, co-chair of the Gates Foundation, in yesterday's exclusive online statement issued to The Guardian.'We work with exceptional partners like Rotary, FC Barcelona and the Global Poverty Project to help keep polio a priority,' he said.Although the world has recorded 99 per cent success in the fight against polio, the foundation observed that outbreaks in China and Chad, as well as persistent challenges in Nigeria and Parkistan 'remind us that if there is polio anywhere, there is a risk of polio everywhere.'Urging supporters around the world to lend their voices to the fight against the malaise, the statement noted that two decades ago, 'polio killed or paralysed 350,000 children a year worldwide. Since then, lifesaving vaccines have dramatically reduced the spread of polio. They are one of the best long-term investments to prevent disease and give children a healthy start to life.'As part of activities marking the 2011 World Polio Day yesterday, the FC Barcelona (Gates Foundation partners) had, last Saturday, allowed its players wear 'End Polio' jerseys during their match against Sevilla in honour of the World Polio Day.Yesterday, the foundation and its local partners conducted numerous polio-related activities surrounding the Asia-Pacific dialogue for health strategy alignment including the illumination of the Tokyo Tower. Bill Gates and representatives from Rotary International also gathered to encourage United States leaders to continue their support for polio eradication efforts.TheExpert Review Committee for Polio Eradication and Routine Immunization (ERC) met last week in Abuja to discuss the country's recent increase in cases and ways to bring the polio eradication programme back on track.The group of experts stressed that the situation could be reversed with an urgent programme of work to identify, characterize and target chronically affected children; sustain an intensive Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) campaign schedule through 2012; establish a federal-level accountability framework for Local Government Area (LGA) Chairmen and Ward Heads in very high priority areas; and focus geographically on the three key transmission zones of Kano/Jigawa, Kebbi/Sokoto/Zamfara and Borno.Acting Executive Director National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Emmanuel Abanida, told The Guardian: 'Sub-national Immunization Plus Days (IPDs) were held in 14 high-risk states plus the Federal Capital Territory in late September and early October. Children in designated high-risk LGAs in Jigawa and Kano will receive an additional dose of polio vaccine again later in October. In November, children across the country will be offered additional life saving antigens along with OPV as part of the Maternal and Newborn Child Health Week (MNCHW). During this MNCHW, 10 northern high-risk states will hold IPDs, with vaccination teams visiting every house to ensure no child is missed.'Also, the third report by theInternational Monitoring Board (IMB) of the GPEI released yesterday concluded that the GPEI is not on track to interrupt transmission by the end of 2012, but that this goal could be achieved if weaknesses at the country and global levels can be swiftly corrected and if political and financial support is bolstered. The GPEI agrees that 'polio will not be eradicated unless it receives a higher priority - in many of the polio-affected countries, and across the world.'The WHO report reads: 'Polio Polio (poliomyelitis) mainly affects children under five years of age. One in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis. Among those paralysed, five per cent to 10 per cent die when their breathing muscles become immobilised.
Click here to read full news..
