Africa: Angolan Polio Outbreak

Angolan Polio Outbreak Threatens Efforts to Eliminate Disease From Africa, UN Warns

New York, Oct 1 2010 1:10PM A polio immunization campaign targeting 5.6 million children was launched in Angola today as the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the southern African country was quickly becoming the greatest threat to continent-wide eradication efforts.

Only three African countries have recorded cases of the highly infectious and potentially lethal disease in the past four months – Nigeria, Angola, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with the latter infected from across the Angolan boarder, WHO spokesman Rod Curtis told reporters in Geneva.

Areas in Angola that have previously been polio-free have been re-infected this year from an expanding outbreak, he said. Over the next three days and again at the end of the month, WHO, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Rotary International will be supporting tens of thousands of volunteers, health workers, parents, communities and traditional leaders as they go from house to house and village to village to ensure that every child under the age of 5 is reached with an oral polio vaccine.

These campaigns are not only critical to stopping polio in Angola, but also to stopping it in all of Africa, with Angola quickly becoming the greatest threat to eradication on the continent, Mr. Curtis said, stressing the need to close existing immunization gaps from previous campaigns in which up to 30 per cent of children were missed.

WHO believes the outbreak can be rapidly stopped, even by the end of the year, if these gaps are closed, he added.

Given the upsurge, now more than ever the key lies in the full mobilization and commitment of all sectors and all stakeholders at all levels, UNICEF spokesperson Marixie Mercado said. Particularly important is the engagement by local-level administrative leaders in planning and implementing the campaigns and mobilizing all levels of society to reach every child.

The whole world is watching this outbreak because the future of a polio-free Africa is at risk, she stressed.

Other than Nigeria, there has not been any case in West Africa since Mali, on 1 May, and the Horn of Africa became officially polio-free as of July, Mr. Curtis said.

Outside Africa, polio has been eradicated in most parts of the world, but remains endemic in Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. Last month WHO said great strides had been made towards eliminating polio in Nigeria, which has seen a 99 per cent drop in cases this year compared to 2009.

ENDS