Date Published: 27 February 2009

Polio immunisation campaign launched in West Africa

Fifty-three million children under five are expected to be reached across eight West African countries in a coordinated polio immunisation campaign that launched today.

The synchronised cross-border initiative will take place in eight countries simultaneously: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Togo, and Nigeria.

Reaching every child

The goal of the campaign is to reach every child, even in the most remote rural areas or in the most populated urban areas. More than 162,000 trained immunisers (67,000 for Nigeria alone) will aim to reach every child with a polio vaccine. A total of 66 million doses of vaccine (33 million for Nigeria alone) are available for each round of the campaign.

The campaign is scheduled in two rounds: 27 February to 2 March, and 27 to 30 March 2009. (In Ghana, the first round took place from 12 to 14 February.) During each of the rounds, some teams will go door-to-door while others will be in schools and health centres.

Outreach activities leading up to the campaign include the involvement of local authorities, traditional and religious leaders; interpersonal communication at the community level by social workers and volunteers; community mobilisation; and the broadcast of TV and radio spots.

Outbreak

In 2008, a polio outbreak in northern Nigeria spread to six countries in West Africa. The wild polio virus had already re-infected Niger in 2007, as well as Chad and Cameroon in Central Africa. The campaign aims at reaching a critical mass of polio immunisation coverage in order to stop the spread of the wild polio virus. The highest priority is to reach every child in Nigeria and in the high-risk areas across the region (districts where cases where reported in re-infected countries, districts with low routine immunisation coverage and districts where new case surveillance is weak).

The key to stopping polio in its tracks is comprehensive and coordinated vaccination campaigns and cross-border planning. Undertaking the campaign simultaneously in eight countries reduces the risk of missing children, particularly in a context where there are likely to be large movements of populations.

The campaign mobilises the teams of the health ministries of all the countries, supported by UNICEF, WHO, Rotary International and other partners as well as volunteers, traditional and religious chiefs and the media, and is being organizsed as part of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. The total cost of the campaign is $29 million for the seven countries, with an additional $38 million in Nigeria. This amount includes the cost of vaccine, operational cost, social mobilisation and surveillance.

About the Global Polio Eradication Initiative

This campaign is part of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, a partnership spearheaded by WHO, Rotary International, the US Centre for Diseases Control and Prevention and UNICEF. The polio eradication coalition includes governments of countries affected by polio; private sector foundations (United Nations Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation); development banks (World Bank); bilateral donor governments; the European Commission; the International Red Cross and Red Crescent societies and non-governmental organisations as well as corporate partners. Volunteers in developing countries also play a key role. For more information go to www.polioeradication.org.

About polio

Poliomyelitis (polio) is a highly infectious viral disease, which mainly affects children under five. The virus attacks the nervous system and is transmitted through contaminated food, water and faeces. One in two-hundred infections lead to irreversible paralysis, usually in the legs. Among those paralysed, 5 -10 per cent die when their breathing muscles become immobilised. Polio cannot be cured and can only be prevented by immunisation. WHO recommends that infants receive three doses of oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) in the first year of life.

Today, only four countries in the world, Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and Pakistan, remain polio-endemic, down from more than 125 in 1988. In 2008, 803 cases of wild polio virus were reported in Nigeria and a total of 41 cases of imported wild polio virus were reported in Benin (6), Burkina Faso (6), Côte d'Ivoire (1), Ghana (8), Mali (1), Niger (13) and Togo (3). All imported cases are type 1 polio virus, except one case in Benin that was type 3 polio virus.

As of 13 February, 26 cases of wild polio virus have been reported in West Africa - Nigeria (25) and Niger (1).

About UNICEF
UNICEF is on the ground in over 150 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

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