The Regional Office has also presented a scorecard to track
progress towards the eradication of the virus.
The African Region was certified free of wild poliovirus one
year ago, after four years without a case.
However, outbreaks of a Vaccine-Derived PolioVirus (cVDPV)
is spreading in African communities where too few children have received the
polio vaccine.
cVDPV is a weakened strain of the virus that has changed
over time and behaves more like the naturally occurring poliovirus.
WHO said, in a statement on Thursday, that the commitments
came at the dedicated 71st meeting of the WHO Regional Committee for Africa.
Since 2018, 23 countries in the region have experienced
outbreaks and more than half of the global 1071 cVDPV cases were recorded in
Africa.
According to WHO, cases increased last year partly because
of disruptions to polio vaccination campaigns caused by the outbreak of
COVID-19 pandemic.
Countries at the meeting discussed how they will begin
implementing the new Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) 2022-2026
Strategy, which was launched in June to urgently stop the spread of cVDPVs.
Tactics and tools include advancing the speed and quality of
outbreak response, such as through the rapid deployment of WHO surge staff.
It also includes improving polio vaccine uptake by
integrating polio campaigns to reach children who have never been vaccinated.
Also, broadening the rollout of the novel oral polio vaccine
type 2 (nOPV2), a new tool that could more sustainably end outbreaks of the
most prevalent type 2 cVDPV.
To date, six countries in Africa have rolled out this
vaccine with close to 40 million children vaccinated and no concerns for safety
noted.
Ministers have also committed to regularly reviewing
progress via the scorecard, which will track the timely implementation of
high-quality polio outbreak response, introduce the novel oral polio vaccine
type 2 (nOPV2) for broader use and transition polio assets into national health
systems in a strategic, phased approach.
“Our success in ending wild poliovirus in the region shows
what is possible when we work together with urgency,” the statement quoted WHO
Regional Director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti as saying.
According to her, since July 2020, almost 100 million
African children have been vaccinated against polio.
While COVID-19 threatened this success, Moeti argued that it
was possible to overcome the final hurdles. We have the know-how, but it must
be backed by committed resources to reach all under-vaccinated communities.
Also discussed at the meeting supporting immunisation and
disease surveillance once polio is eradicated, which will be achieved by
transitioning polio infrastructure into countries’ health systems.
The polio programme has a history of supporting the response
to emerging health threats in the region, including Ebola and COVID-19, and
half of polio surge staff are currently helping countries with COVID-19
surveillance, contact tracing and community engagement.
Dr Tunji Funsho, Chair of Rotary’s National PolioPlus
Committee in Nigeria called for increased political and financial commitment by
governments and partners.
According to him, they should “not only curb outbreaks
swiftly but to also scale up vaccination coverage and give children lasting
protection against this preventable disease”.
0 comments:
Post a Comment