Somalia and Sudan seek funds to cover final stretch of polio eradication
Nairobi, May 13, 2003 - Six years after UNICEF and WHO launched campaigns to eradicate polio in Somalia, and 10 years after they began in Sudan, tremendous gains have been made. However, adequate funding remains a significant factor in achieving eradication, the two UN agencies said today.
''We have reason to be optimistic, but not complacent,'' said Mr. Robert Davis, UNICEF's Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) Regional Adviser for Eastern and Southern Africa, in Nairobi, Kenya. Davis’ expression of caution is timely, given the potential of polio to spread quickly in populations with low vaccination coverage.
Since 2000, when an outbreak of 46 cases was reported in Somalia, there has been a steady decline in cases. By 2002, circulation of the virus was reduced to three cases reported in and around Mogadishu; the only polio cases in the Horn of Africa. No polio cases have been reported to date in 2003. In Sudan, four cases were confirmed in 2000 and one case in 2001. Since then, no polio cases have been identified. Both countries still have the final leg ahead of them; to be certified as polio free, a region must have at least three years with no polio cases and strong surveillance systems.
In both Somalia and southern Sudan the polio eradication initiative has faced significant challenges due to on-going civil war and insecurity. Limited health care services and infrastructure have challenged the UN agencies to create their own structures and partnerships. Polio eradication activities are implemented year-round despite conflict and limited access. "Creating strong links with the community and hiring national staff in every district has been the key to the programme's success," says Dr. Elias Durry, the WHO Polio Eradication Coordinator for the Horn of Africa.
Polio eradication activities also benefit health systems development in both countries. Strengthened capacity for surveillance, outreach activities, and training is used to identify and investigate other important diseases, as well as to increase access to health services for children in areas affected by conflict.
To maintain the momentum toward eradication, substantial external financial resources are required. A US$ 275 million global funding gap, to finish the job by 2005, threatens the growing success of the initiative. Financial resources are crucial in the purchase of oral polio vaccine (OPV), in planning and implementing national immunization days and mop-up campaigns, and in maintaining surveillance and laboratory services. In early 2003, an acute cash shortage resulted in the scaling back of eradication activities. A lapse in funding for Somalia and Sudan would not only jeopardise the goal of stopping polio transmission, but could allow the virus to spread to other regions.
The world is on the verge of eradicating polio. If the initiative falters now in Somalia and Sudan, the consequences would be disastrous. By 2005, it is estimated that five million children, who would otherwise have been paralysed by the polio virus, will be walking because they have been immunized against polio. When this time comes, children in Somalia and Sudan should be able to count themselves among the lucky ones.
For interviews contact:
WHO:
- Dr. M. Helmy Wahdan, Special Advisor on Polio Eradication, Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office. Tel: +202-670-2535. Email:
- Dr. Elias Durry, Polio Coordinator for the Horn of Africa. Mobile: +254-733-614-921. Email:
- Dr. Rudy Eggers, Inter-country Medical Epidemiologist, WHO East African Block. Tel: +254-271-5909. Email:
UNICEF:
- Mr. Robert Davis, UNICEF Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) Regional Adviser for Eastern and Southern Africa. Tel. 254-2-622-940/254-2-443-047 (residence). E-mail: , . Fax. 254-2-622-195
- Dr. Emanuele Capobianco, EPI-Polio Officer, UNICEF Somalia. Tel: +254-2-623-950. Mobile: +254-722-626-284. Email:
- Dr. Brigitte Toure, Project Officer Health and Nutrition, UNICEF Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS). Mobile +254-733-635-975. Office +254-2-622-765. Email:
Media Liaison:
- Robert Kihara, Communication Officer, UNICEF Somalia. Tel: +254-2-623-958/623-950/623-862. Mobile: 254-721-244-800. Email:
Background
In the 15 years since the Global Polio Eradication Initiative was launched, the number of cases has fallen by over 99%, from an estimated 350,000 cases in 1988 to 1919 reported cases in 2002 (as of 16 April, 2003). In the same time period, the number of polio-infected countries was reduced from 125 to 7. Somalia is one of the remaining seven countries, along with India, Nigeria, Niger, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Egypt.
The Polio Partners
The World Health Organization, UNICEF, Rotary International and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spearhead the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.
The polio eradication coalition includes: the governments and local authorities of countries affected by poliomyelitis; private foundations (e.g. United Nations Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation); development banks (e.g. World Bank); donor governments (e.g. Canada, Ireland, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, United Kingdom, Italy, and United States of America); the European Commission; humanitarian and non-governmental organizations (e.g. the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies); and corporate partners (e.g. Aventis Pasteur, Wyeth). Volunteers in developing countries also play a key role; 10 million have participated in mass immunization campaigns.