India and one year without polio cases

It is equally a thing of joy to see that one of the remaining 4 countries still harbouring Polio have successfully  interrupted wild poliovirus transmission and has celebrated a complete  one year without polio since its last case, in a 2-year-old girl in the state of West Bengal, on 13 January 2011.“India was once recognized […]

It is equally a thing of joy to see that one of the remaining 4 countries still harbouring Polio have successfully  interrupted wild poliovirus transmission and has celebrated a complete  one year without polio since its last case, in a 2-year-old girl in the state of West Bengal, on 13 January 2011.
“India was once recognized as the world’s epicenter of polio. If all pending laboratory investigations return negative, in the coming weeks India will officially be deemed to have stopped indigenous transmission of wild poliovirus. The number of polio-endemic countries, those which have never stopped indigenous wild poliovirus transmission, will then be reduced to a historical low of three: Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan.”
The news release observed that India must maintain sensitive surveillance and high childhood immunity against wild poliovirus to guard against any importation of polio until eradication is achieved globally. In 2011, Afghanistan and Pakistan have both seen alarming increases in polio cases, and poliovirus from Pakistan re-infected China (which had been polio-free since 1999). In Africa, active polio transmission continues in Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nigeria, with outbreaks in West and Central Africa in the past 12 months reminding the world that as long as polio exists anywhere, it remains a threat everywhere.
With this giant stride by India,  the country’s effort was commended by global health leaders for its leadership and financial commitment to the polio eradication effort, and to the millions of vaccinators, community mobilizers, Rotarians, parents and caregivers who have supported polio eradication for more than a decade. Each year, more than 170 million children under the age of 5 are vaccinated in two national immunization campaigns, with up to 70 million children in the highest-risk areas vaccinated multiple times in additional special campaigns; the whole effort requires nearly a billion doses of oral polio vaccine annually.
“India’s success is arguably its greatest public health achievement and has provided a global opportunity to push for the end of polio,” said WHO Director-General Margaret Chan. “The Global Polio Eradication Initiative is in full emergency mode and focused on using this momentum to close this crippling disease down. Stopping polio in India required creativity, perseverance and professionalism – many of the innovations in polio eradication were sparked by the challenges in India. The lessons from India must now be adapted and implemented through emergency actions to finish polio everywhere.” The key to India’s remarkable progress in the fight against polio according to UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake, has been the strong leadership of the Government of India and state governments, which launched a comprehensive polio eradication programme that has enabled sustained high immunization coverage in states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar with high rates of poverty, high population density and poor sanitation and infrastructure, conditions in which disease like polio can thrive.
 “India’s achievement is proof positive that we can eradicate polio even in the most challenging environments – in fact, it is only by targeting these areas that we can defeat this evil disease,” Mr Lake said. “We have the ability to protect every last person, especially children, from this entirely preventable disease – and because we can, we must finish the job of eradicating polio globally, once and for all.”
Rotary International first launched the global polio eradication effort in 1985, and President Kalyan Banerjee said that with the intensity of transmission in India, many experts had predicted it would be the last country in the world to achieve eradication. “India is undoubtedly the biggest domino to fall in the polio eradication effort,” Mr Banerjee said. “India’s success is a great credit to the Indian government and to Indian Rotary members – as well as those from around the world – who have worked with local leaders to conduct these immunization efforts to reach every child with the polio vaccine.”
“Polio can be stopped when countries combine the right elements – political will, quality immunization campaigns, and an entire nation’s determination” said Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “World leaders must continue to raise the funds needed to run the global campaign and help to ensure that no child suffers from this crippling disease ever again.”
Polio (poliomyelitis) mainly affects children under five years of age. One in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis. Among those paralysed, 5% to 10% die when their breathing muscles become immobilized. Polio is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus. It invades the nervous system, and can cause total paralysis in a matter of hours. The virus enters the body through the mouth and multiplies in the intestine. Initial symptoms are fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting and stiffness in the neck and pain in the limbs. There is no cure for polio, it can only be prevented.  Polio vaccine, given multiple times, can protect a child for life.
With the Global eradication efforts, more than 10 million people are today walking, who would otherwise have been paralyzed. An estimated more than 1.5 million childhood deaths have been prevented, through the systematic administration of Vitamin A during polio immunization activities. With India’s achievement, the global polio eradication effort now focuses on improving the implementation of emergency operations plans in Chad, Nigeria and Pakistan. Success depends on local ownership and accountability at all levels of government and international partners.
All comments to Dr Aminu Magashi at [email protected]