The Afghanistan mission was undertaken from 6-15
August. During the course of the visit, meetings with WHO and UNICEF staff,
representatives of the Ministry of Public Health, international aid
organizations and military groups and other partner agencies were conducted.
briefing and debriefing meetings were held in Kabul. the team also travelled for
special briefings to jalalabad (in the eastern region and gateway in and out of
Pakistan), and Kandahar, in the southern region, the only remaining
polio-endemic region in the country.
India
Members of the India team arrived in New Delhi on
10 August. During the course of their 10-day visit, they met with WHO and UNICEF
staff, representatives of the Government of India and the Indian Council of
Medical Research, and other partner agencies. Field visits were undertaken to
Uttar Pradesh and Bihar including Ghaziabad, Patna and Khagaria (where the team
stayed overnight on the Kosi River embankment) to observe the challenges faced
by vaccination teams in these areas.
Nigeria
The Nigeria mission began in Abuja on 4 August.
During the next 10 days, meetings were held with government officials and other
partners at national, provincial and local levels. The team split for field
visits to Kano and Zamfara, where they visited health facilities and cold stores
and observed supplementary immunization activities.
Pakistan
The Pakistan team began its mission in Islamabad on 24 August and spent two days
meeting with government officials, WHO and UNICEF staff, and other partner
agencies. During the next week, the team travelled to Karachi, Lahore and
Peshawar, where they met with public health officials and undertook field visits
to towns with confirmed polio cases.
International spread
The mission of the international team took place
from 17 to 31 August. During this time, the team visited WHO staff at the
Regional Office for Africa and the Regional Office for the Eastern
Mediterranean, and also travelled to Angola and Sudan, which both have
persistent polio outbreaks following importation of the poliovirus."
