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28 November 2006
Autumn 2006 Polio News
In this issue: the appointment of Dr Margaret Chan
as the new WHO Director-General; Global Polio Eradication now hinges on four
countries; Polio Lab Network reduces case confirmation time by 50%; Dr Hussein
A. Gezairy re-elected as WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean; In
India, Muslim leaders join forces with Government of India and Rotary to finish
polio; Interview with polio advocate Alan Court, Director, Programme Division,
UNICEF New York; Ireland and Luxembourg provide critical multi-year funding. And
our regular updates on case numbers, financial contributions and new
publications.
(pdf) English
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Français
13 November 2006
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Margaret Chan new WHO Director-General -
pledges to eradicate polio
Dr Margaret Chan was appointed the new World
Health Organization (WHO) Director-General in Geneva on 9 November 2006.
Dr Chan's appointment follows the sudden and
tragic death of Dr LEE Jong-wook, in May 2006.
Addressing the World Health Assembly immediately
after her appointment, Dr Chan underlined the importance to finish polio once
and for all. "We will complete polio eradication," she vowed.
Prior to her appointment as Director-General, Dr
Chan was Assistant Director-General for Communicable Diseases. She has been with
WHO since 2003, and her career in public health spans back 30 years. Dr Chan
will take office on 4 January 2007, until which time Acting Director-General Dr
Anders Nordström will continue this role.
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"We will complete polio eradication."
Margaret Chan, new WHO Director-General, in her acceptance speech to the
World Health Assembly.
WHO/C Black |
9 November 2006
India: outbreak on decline at epicentre,
campaigns to minimize further spread
The polio outbreak this year that spread into polio-free parts of
India appears to have peaked in its original epicentre in western Uttar Pradesh.
The red line in the graph below shows cases rising in Moradabad and JP Nagar
districts of the state, the start of the outbreak. The successive colour lines
show the poliovirus moving beyond this epicentre to a gradually expanding area.
In the first "wave" of affected areas (defined by the red, green and blue
lines), cases have started to fall, evidence that the origins of the outbreak
are slowing while its effects continue to rise in the final "wave" of affected
areas delineated in pink.
Supplementary immunization campaigns take place the week of 12
November and have been expanded to nearly half the country in response to the
outbreak, covering affected districts, neighbouring districts and states
considered at high risk. This outbreak has seen India's cases rise ten-fold over
the same period in 2005 and dealt a serious blow to India's remarkable progress
in 2005. Eradication is within India's grasp: every district in the country has
been polio-free at some point in time. With sustained immunization campaigns
that reach all vulnerable children, India can achieve this status in all
districts at the same time.
4 November 2006
Horn
of Africa: polio campaigns begin today to stop outbreak
Over
the next week, more than 55,000 volunteers and health workers will deliver oral
polio vaccine (OPV) house-to-house to nearly 4 million children under the age of
five, across Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and Djibouti. This fourth in a series of
vaccination campaigns in the region comes after detection of wild poliovirus in
Kenya for the first time in 22 years. Outbreak control measures have slowed the
epidemic, but it is imperative to reach all children with vaccine this week and
in subsequent campaigns if the Horn of Africa is to be polio-free again. Media
alert (PDF), Kenya status
update
3
November 2006
Some pilgrims
on Hajj should show polio vaccination proof
The Weekly Epidemiological Record today publishes the health conditions for
travellers to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj,
the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. Saudi Arabia recommends that pilgrims from
polio-infected countries show proof of vaccination. Read
the full requirements and list of countries.
1 November 2006
Luxembourg honoured for support to polio
eradication
Rotary International in October honoured Grand-Duc Henri of Luxembourg for his
country’s outstanding financial contribution to polio eradication. Luxembourg is
the highest per capita donor to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. This
year, the government committed US$ 3.70 million for the next three years, and the
country’s total contribution stands at US$9.08 million.
Rotary Foundation Trustee Rudolf Hörndler said
while presenting Grand-Duc Henri with a framed bas relief depicting a child
receiving the polio vaccine, “On behalf of the 1.2 million members of Rotary
around the world, and equally important, on behalf of the millions of children
you will never meet, I wish to acknowledge your personal contribution to
protecting children from polio.”
More
1 November 2006
Afghanistan: polio vaccination activities still
running
Some 6,000 health workers are conducting polio
vaccination campaigns this week in the conflict-ridden Southern Region of
Afghanistan. Nearly half a million children will be vaccinated against polio,
together with tetanus and measles.
The polio eradication campaign is one of the few public health initiatives still maintaining some degree of operations in the southern region of the country. Health workers on the ground are operating under extremely difficult and dangerous conditions, risking their lives in efforts to reach every child with polio vaccine. The
outbreak in the Southern Region appears to be waning, with the most recent case
dating from 7 September 2006.
Recent contributions from Canada (Canadian$ 5
million) enable campaigns in Afghanistan to proceed.
Canada's contribution is a welcome influx into the US$ 6.3 million needed for Afghanistan's polio vaccination campaigns for the next six months as well as for ongoing surveillance for the disease. The sum raises Canada's part in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative to
over US$ 180 million and follows commitments made at the G8 Summits in Gleneagles in 2005 and St. Petersburg this
year. More
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