22 April

Emergency measures launched in Horn of Africa to stop spreading polio outbreak
Polio partners commend new measures by Government of Southern Sudan

22 April 2009 – Emergency measures have been launched by the Government of Southern Sudan to stop a polio outbreak spreading across the Horn of Africa. Previously restricted to Southern Sudan and western Ethiopia, the outbreak has this year spread to Kenya, Uganda and northern Sudan.

To urgently address the spread of disease - and recognizing that the epicentre of the outbreak is Southern Sudan - the President of the Government of Southern Sudan, His Excellency General Salva Kiir Mayardit, has launched a 'President Action Plan for Polio Eradication in Southern Sudan', forming an Inter-Ministerial Coordination Committee to specifically address the crisis. The President of the Government of Southern Sudan's office has urged all state governors to give full and active support to the outbreak response activities.

Logistical difficulties in reaching every child in this difficult-to-access terrain have so far marred the quality of outbreak response efforts, ongoing in Southern Sudan since confirmation of an initial polio case in June last year. Upwards of 30% of children remain under-immunized, and this has allowed the outbreak to intensify and spread. Recognizing this, the President of the Government of Southern Sudan General Salva Kiir Mayardit called on all government and health workers to do their part to ensure the success of immunization activities.

"The Government of Southern Sudan has taken a critical step toward stopping this polio outbreak from spreading," said Hilde Johnson, Deputy Executive Director, UNICEF. "UNICEF is a committed partner in this campaign and is dedicated to ensuring that every child in Southern Sudan, no matter how difficult to reach, receives quality vaccines."

The new Inter-Ministerial Coordination Committee is placing full responsibility and accountability for improving the quality of outbreak response on state and county (district) governments. A personal directive from the President of the Government of Southern Sudan has been issued to all state governors, requesting they take specific action, including:
- engaging all ministries of their state governments to ensure a cross-sectoral approach; - securing the support of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) active on the ground, as well as the support of traditional and religious leaders; and,
- instructing all County and Payam Executive Officers (district heads) to personally oversee the quality of outbreak operations in their areas.

"This is an extremely dangerous outbreak, particularly as it has recently spread from Southern Sudan to neighbouring countries," said Dr Hussein A Gezairy, Regional Director for WHO's Office for the Eastern Mediterranean. "I commend HE President Salva Kiir Mayardit and the Government of Southern Sudan for putting in place these important new measures to address this dangerous spread of disease. It is precisely this leadership which will help ensure the outbreak is rapidly stopped and will prevent further international spread. No child in Southern Sudan need ever again know the pain of life-long polio paralysis."

Since the outbreak was confirmed last June, 46 cases of polio have been reported in Southern Sudan. The recent expansion of the disease to Kenya, Uganda, northern Sudan (Khartoum and Port Sudan) and within Southern Sudan underscores the extreme risk of further international spread. Of particular concern is the confirmation of polio in Port Sudan. It is from this area that, from 2004 to 2006, polio spread to re-infect several countries including Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Yemen and Indonesia, causing outbreaks that resulted in more than 1,200 cases and over US$150 million in international emergency outbreak response costs.

Large-scale outbreak response is now underway across the Horn of Africa, including in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and northern Sudan. The next immunization campaign in Southern Sudan will be held on 27-29 April, targeting more than 2.9 million children under the age of five, followed by an additional immunization campaign from 26-28 May. These campaigns are crucially important, as the approaching rainy season will further hamper the objective of reaching all children in this difficult-to-access terrain.
 

Background on Sudan