The World Health Organization (WHO) is participating in a massive cross-border immunization campaign aimed at stopping a year-long polio epidemic in West and Central Africa. The group plans to help immunize more than 85 million African children under five years old against polio, reaching children in 19 countries across Africa in West and Central Africa: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Senegal, and Sierra Leone. WHO believes all of these countries have active outbreaks of polio-that is cases within the last six months. The campaign kicked off on March 6, and will also reach into Nigeria, Ghana, Benin, Central African Republic, Gambia, Cape Verde, and Guinea Bissau. Niger, Togo, and Cote d’Ivoire will reportedly join at a later date due to political transitions or elections.
More than 400,000 volunteers and health workers will take part in the campaign, which is part of an ongoing response to the epidemic that first spread from polio-endemic Nigeria to its polio-free neighbors in 2008 and is still paralyzing children in West and Central Africa. This complex logistical operation will be largely made possible by $30 million provided by Rotary International, which WHO described as “a major partner in the global effort to stop polio.”
As part of the campaign, two drops of oral polio vaccine (OPV) will be administered to every child at the door of every dwelling in all 19 countries. A dedicated army of volunteers and health workers will work up to 12 hours per day, travelling on foot or bicycles, in cars and boats and on motorcycles, and often in trying conditions. Each vaccination team will carry the vaccine in special carriers, filled with ice packs to ensure the vaccine remains below the required 8 degrees Celsius.
The ministries of health are supported by, among others, key operational partners, including the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). Anders Naucler, Health Coordinator for IFRC West and Central Africa called for all-out efforts, saying, “Hundreds of volunteers from our Red Cross Red Crescent National Societies will ensure that polio drops reach every last child. That is our challenge-and that will be the measure of our success.”
WHO Regional Director for Africa, Luis Gomes Sambo, MD, said the synchronized campaign showed Africa’s determination to be free of polio. “From the top leadership to local district administrators in every country,” he said, “we are each accountable to the African child-to vaccinate every child and achieve high coverage.”
A previous round of campaigns in 2009 did not stop the outbreak completely because not enough children were vaccinated to stop polio transmission. WHO stated that after years with no polio cases, some countries lacked the necessary skills and experience to respond adequately to the outbreak. New approaches being introduced this year include standardized, independent monitoring of whether children have been reached, better training for vaccinators to carry out the plans fully, and appropriate deployment of experienced staff.
UNICEF’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa, Gianfranco Rotigliano, noted, “With better coverage that leaves no child unvaccinated, these campaigns can succeed in making West and Central Africa polio-free.”
The campaign will be repeated on April 24 in the same 19 countries. In the meantime, children in six countries with recent cases received an additional dose on March 26 as part of a new Short Interval Additional Dose strategy that WHO described as having proven successful in rapidly building population immunity where needed. These six countries are Burkina Faso, Guinea, Liberia, Mauritania, Senegal, and Sierra Leone.
The Chair of Rotary’s Africa Regional PolioPlus Committee, Ambroise Tshimbalanga-Kasongo, said, “We at Rotary are proud to have provided the funding necessary for the March rounds, and we call on others to play their part in making Africa polio-free by providing funding necessary for more high-coverage campaigns.”
