Africa's 2005 Polio Eradication Strategy

On January 13 2005, health ministers from Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Niger, Nigeria, and Sudan met at the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva to develop and discuss a polio eradication strategy for 2005.

This discussion was inspired by disconcerting developments in 2004, when the number of African children who contracted polio doubled to 1037 (85% of the global total). A joint press release issued by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative partners Rotary International, UNICEF, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the WHO explains that cases began to rise during 2003 following a suspension of polio immunisation activities in parts of Nigeria. To cite one indicator of the upswing: the Sudan went from 0 to 112 cases in a 9-month period.

Partners found that, following resumption of polio immunisation social mobilisation campaigns and activities (which were synchronised across 23 African countries), 80 million children have been reached and the epidemic is being reined in. Inspired by these trends, the ministers decided to embark on a "massive series of immunization campaigns across 25 countries". That is, this meeting signaled a recognition of the importance of using community mobilisation strategies to motivate behaviour change in the area of polio vaccination.

Specifically, the strategy will involve conducting at least 5 rounds of national campaigns involving all sectors of participating country's governments. Polio surveillance/vigilance will also be bolstered. The African Union will lead these polio eradication efforts, with the stated goal of reaching every child with the polio vaccine. African leaders are expected to announce increased immunisation and surveillance activities at an African Union summit in Abuja, Nigeria (January 29-30 2005).

The Geneva meeting is a one-year follow-up to the Geneva Declaration on the Eradication of Poliomyelitis, a 2004 pledge by polio-endemic countries to intensify their activities toward eradication. The 16-year Global Polio Eradication Initiative, a public-private partnership, has reduced the incidence of polio across the world by 99% since 1988.