Campaign to stamp out polio underway

Ethiopia must wipe out polio by the end of the year to meet global standards, the World Heath Organisation (WHO) said on Thursday. A final vaccination programme involving over three million children has been launched to stamp out the last remaining pockets of the virus. “This is the most critical year for Ethiopia,” WHO social mobilisation coordinator, Mohammed Idris, told IRIN. If the country is to meet the 2005 Global Polio Eradication Initiative it must ensure Ethiopia is polio free. “The virus must be contained by the year 2005,” said Mohammed. “If we get a case this year you have to wait three years. Cases are always considered with a bracket of three years – you cannot say within three years that you have eradicated it. We have to get rid of it this year." “That means Ethiopia could be the last polio eradicating C country. It will really draw us back from the world,” he added. The poliovirus now circulates in 20 countries, down from 30 in 1999 and 125 in 1988 when the campaign was launched. These are mainly in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Poliomyelitis is a highly infectious disease with no cure, caused by a virus that mainly affects children under three years of age. 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. Last year there were four reported cases of polio in Ethiopia. The 11,000 vaccination teams in Ethiopia are targeting Afar, Somali, Oromiya and Benishangul Gumuz states where the cases were found. The immunisations began last Friday and are expected to end this week. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative is spearheaded by WHO, Rotary International, the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).