31 October

Saudi Arabia publishes annual health conditions for the Hajj

Polio immunization for pilgrims from key infected areas

The following countries are considered to be affected by poliomyelitis (as of October 2007):

Countries with ongoing transmission of indigenous wild poliovirus:

Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and Pakistan.

Countries with ongoing transmission of imported wild poliovirus:

Angola, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Niger, Myanmar, Somalia and Sudan.

Countries with recent transmission of imported wild poliovirus:

Eritrea, Ethiopia, Indonesia and Yemen.

A) The Ministry of Health of Saudi Arabia recommends that all travelers, including pilgrims, from Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, Pakistan and Sudan, regardless of age and vaccination history, should receive at least 1 dose of oral polio vaccine (OPV) prior to departure for Saudi Arabia. In addition, all travellers from Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, Pakistan and Sudan, regardless of age and previous vaccination history, will also be required to receive a dose of OPV upon their arrival in Saudi Arabia.

B) The Ministry of Health of Saudi Arabia recommends that all travellers aged under 15 years, including pilgrims, from countries with ongoing or recent transmission of imported wild poliovirus show proof of vaccination with OPV 6 weeks prior to application for

their entry visa. Irrespective of previous vaccination history, all travellers aged under 15 years arriving in Saudi Arabia will also be required to receive a dose of OPV upon arrival. More (in PDF)

25 October

"Nothing short of heroic"
At war, against polio

A new multimedia report 'Child Alert: Afghanistan', is based on reporting from UNICEF UK Ambassador Martin Bell’s July 2007 trip to that country, where children are increasingly not only caught in the crossfire but are also the intended targets of violence. Children are victims of attacks on schools, clinics and roadside bombs, have been forcibly recruited by militants and have even been used as suicide bombers – a phenomenon virtually unheard of in Afghanistan three years ago.

The war claims their homes, their family members – even their lives. The violence has closed many schools and forced parents to choose between their children’s safety or illiteracy. Some 60 children under five die every day. Maternal mortality rates are among the highest in the world, claiming 50 women daily.

While progress in maternal health is agonizingly slow, the new Afghanistan can be proud of its efforts to stamp out communicable diseases. Indeed, its polio campaign is nothing short of heroic, and it is setting an example to the world of what can be achieved under even the most dire circumstances. At Spin Boldak on the Pakistani-Afghan border, 800 children under five are immunized against polio every day. If Afghans can achieve the apparently impossible and eradicate polio from their country in a time of war, then what could they accomplish in a time of peace?
See the whole report:

24 October 2007

World Polio Day: Towards a polio-free world

Ten million children are today being vaccinated against polio in Angola, Nigeria and Sudan. Within days, an additional 135 million children will be vaccinated, from Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia in Africa to Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan in Asia.

Today is also a commemoration of the birth of Jonas Salk, leader of a team that invented one of the two vaccines against polio, an occasion dubbed World Polio Day. In 1955, when his inactivated polio vaccine was first used, hundreds of thousands of children were being paralysed every year by a disease that caused lifelong paralysis and terrified parents because there was neither cure nor prevention.

Using oral polio vaccine, developed by Albert Sabin, polio has been reduced worldwide by 99% since 1988, following the global push to eradicate the poliovirus spearheaded by national governments, the World Health Organization, Rotary International, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and UNICEF. This Global Polio Eradication Initiative is distinctive for the strong financial support it receives from both public and private sector donors.

Endemic polio survives in parts of four countries: eradication is technically feasible thanks to new tools and tactics that can more rapidly stop transmission of the virus in these areas. Mass vaccination campaigns have to continue to regularly supplement routine immunization to protect children both in endemic and polio-free areas: poliovirus can travel long distances, and polio anywhere is a danger children everywhere.

Success in eradicating polio will leave a humanitarian legacy for generations to come, and will provide the momentum necessary to achieve other ambitious health and development goals.

Related reading: The Case for Completing Polio Eradication 
Related viewing: National Immunization Days in India and Nigeria (slow connections or fast connections)