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Polio Pounds Yemen
John Stith
Staff Writer
2005-05-11
 Insider Reports RSS Feed
Polio pounds the Yemeni population as 63 cases of the paralytic virus spread. This combined with the recent outbreak in Indonesia has the WHO on red alert. The problem is that virus is spreading through countries previously polio free.
Right now 6 million doses of the vaccine are on their way to Yemen for another round and Indonesia is running an immunization campaign right now. The problem though is that immunizations slow or stop when the disease is beaten in a particular locale.
Then when problems creep up again, like in 2003 when certain Islamic clerics in Nigeria decided the U.S. was attempting to make the Nigerian population infertile via the polio vaccines, it hits populations hard.
Despite this progress, as long as the epidemic in Africa is ongoing, polio-free countries will continue to be at-risk of importations. Concern is particularly high to protect the Horn of Africa, where weak health systems, low levels of routine immunization and hampered access to all populations due to civil conflict means children in this area are at particular risk of potential spread of polio. While Somalia has not reported a case since October 2002, preventive immunization campaigns were conducted in February and March, and are being evaluated for any potential areas of low coverage.
To ensure the necessary polio campaigns are implemented in endemic and high-risk countries, a global funding gap of US$ 50 million must urgently be filled by July. An additional US$ 200 million is needed for 2006 activities.
Global eradication efforts have reduced the number of polio cases from 350 000 annually in 1988 to 1 267 cases in 2004. Six countries remain polio-endemic (Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Niger, Afghanistan and Egypt), with a further six where polio transmission is re-established (Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali and Sudan). The Global Polio Eradication Initiative is spearheaded by the World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary International, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Eradication efforts will continue.
About the Author:
John is a staff writer for SecurityProNews covering cyber security.
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