UN calls for safe access for polio investigators

UNICEF and the WHO on 27 July called for the safe passage of several teams of health workers due to travel late last week and early this week to investigate the recently confirmed case of wild poliovirus in southern Sudan. The instance was confirmed on 20 July in Ruweng County, Western Upper Nile/Unity (Wahdah) state, an unstable area contested by the government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), and with a highly mobile population estimated at 64,000. A joint team from WHO and Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS) security was due in the area on 28 July, to begin an "urgent and critical investigation" of the confirmed polio case. The UN agencies on 27 July asked "that the region remain calm while investigators work through local populations to determine if the paralysing disease has gained a foothold, and take the necessary steps to control spread of the virus." [for more details, go to: http://www.unicef.org/newsline/] "Sudan is a priority country for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative," said Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director-General of the WHO. "It is now one of only a handful where the virus still circulates and paralyses children. Continued progress in polio's eradication in this region will only be possible if health workers can safely investigate and respond to cases." WHO has not been able to establish a polio eradication infrastructure in Ruweng County because of insecurity, and has determined that the little girl at the centre of the investigation never received polio vaccine. The killing of two polio vaccinators and beating of five health workers during National Immunisation Days in the Democratic Republic of the Congo earlier this month highlighted the UN's concerns for its staff. "I'm sure all parents want their children immunised. The hurdle we face is reaching them safely and consistently. For that we need every one's help, and I'm asking for it," said UNICEF's Executive Director Carol Bellamy.