A new six-year plan to eradicate polio has been unveiled by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
Child receives polio vaccine
The plan calls for a scaling up of polio vaccination programmes,
especially in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria, where polio is still
endemic.
WHO says the number of children paralyzed by polio is at the lowest
ever with 19 cases reported in 2013, compared to 223 cases last year.
WHO and UNICEF say the Polio Eradication & Endgame Strategic Plan 2013-2018
will require US$5.5 billion to be fully implemented, of which donors
and other Global polio eradication partners have pledged over $4
billion.
At the Global Vaccine Summit held in Abu Dhabi on Thursday, global
leaders expressed their confidence in the plan's ability to achieve a
lasting polio-free world by 2018.
Sona Bari is a spokesperson for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.
"This plan is made possible because of the progress in the last
two years: India becoming polio free. It was the country that everyone
considered the most difficult place to eradicate polio, and also
progress in the three remaining endemic countries. We have to look at
the historical picture of how many children were paralyzed by polio 25
years ago: 350,000 children at least. This year we have had 19 children
paralyzed by polio. That’s an incredible success. However, with
eradication we need to reach zero. So what we aim to do is to stop
transmission of this virus in the next two years, then we need to
continue conducting surveillance searching for polio everywhere in the
world for three years, to make sure there is no polio; that the virus
has been exterminated".
Polio is a crippling and potentially fatal infectious disease. Polio
can strike at any age, but it mainly affects children under five years
old. There is no cure for the disease, but there are safe and effective
vaccines.
Source : News and Media,United Nations Radio ( 25th April 2013 )
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