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17 May
WHO Director-General
presents The Case for Completing Polio Eradication
As a follow-up her 28 February Urgent Stakeholder Consultation on Polio
Eradication, WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan held a
side meeting in the margins of the World Health Assembly today to discuss
The Case for Completing Polio Eradication (download
PDF). The 'Case' document summarizes the financial and humanitarian benefits
of completing polio eradication and sets the stage for intensive resource
mobilization activities to fill the 2007-2008 global funding gap of US$ 540
million.
07 May
Polio eradication at the World Health
Assembly
At the upcoming World Health Assembly (WHA) on 14-23 May in Geneva, Member States
are expected to adopt a resolution urging an intensification of eradication efforts to rapidly interrupt the remaining chains of indigenous transmission and further limit potential international spread of the virus.
The following relevant background documents are available online (in PDF):
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Poliomyelitis: mechanism for management of potential risks to eradication -
report by the Secretariat
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Final Polio Resolution by the WHA 60 - poliomyelitis: mechanism for management
of potential risks to eradication
In follow-up to the WHO Director-General's 28 February Urgent Stakeholder Consultation on Polio Eradication, a side meeting with key stakeholders is planned in the margins of the WHA, to discuss the
'Case for
Completing Polio Eradication' (PDF). The 'Case' document summarizes the financial and humanitarian benefits of completing polio
eradication and will set the stage for intensive resource mobilization activities to fill the 2007-2008 global funding gap of US$ 540
million. The meeting takes place on 17 May at noon, in Salle VIII and is open to all WHA attendees; key participants will include the four remaining polio-endemic
countries (Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and Pakistan), spearheading partners and donors.
02 May
Afghan President meets WHO chief on
polio eradication
Days
after Afghanistan vaccinated more than 7 million children against polio, the
world's top health official and Afghan President Hamid Karzai pledged to
capitalize swiftly on the country's remarkable progress towards eradicating
the disease. Of the four remaining countries which have never stopped polio,
Afghanistan is the only one which has not reported any case so far this
year. Click here
for a story on the vaccination campaign.
WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan was in Afghanistan on the first leg of
a two-part journey to Afghanistan and Pakistan to encourage high-level and
combined efforts on the part of both countries to stop the final chains of
polio transmission, which straddle their common border. Click here
for a press release on her visit.
Afghan
children with WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan, President Hamid Karzai
of Afghanistan and Director of the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern
Mediterranean Dr. Hussein Gezairy.
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