The world is celebrating the end of the wild polio in Africa, for the first time since the end of small pix in 1980. With the rest of the world Sierra Leone, which has hundreds of people left paralysed by the debilitating disease, is basking in the glory, according to a joint press release by the World Health Organisation and the Government of Sierra Leone.
The strategic landmark public health achievement on the continent was certified this week by the World Health Organization, which declared Africa “free of wild poliovirus transmission”. The announcement was made at the 70th Regional Committee for Africa, which is the WHO’s highest decision-making body on health policy in Africa.
The achievement comes through the Global Polio Eradication Initiative which was launched in 1988 and spearheaded by national governments around the world, WHO, Rotary International, CDC-USA, UNICEF, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
“The last case of wild poliovirus in Africa was reported from Nigeria in 2016. Since then, no new case of the disease has been reported in the region. The wild polio Free Certification the continent gained today is an important step towards the global eradication effort against the. To date, only two countries, Pakistan and Afghanistan, still have wild polio Virus in the world” the release reads.
It continues: “Sierra Leone has made great progress in fighting polio. The country reported its last confirmed wild polio case in 2010 and has since built improved national structures, tools and capacity to strengthen surveillance of the disease including at community levels.”
Minister of Health and Sanitation, Dr Alpha T. Wurie is quoted as saying thus: “What we are celebrating today as a people has been a continent-wide commitment and dedication by frontline health workers, caregivers and African leaders, local governments and our community leaders, along with the strong support of our international partners. It has been a people’s agenda and we are proud as a country to have made significant contributions to this great achievement”.
Dr Wurie continues: “Sierra Leone has a strong disease surveillance system left behind by Polio Eradication with the ability to respond to any outbreak and eradicate some neglected tropical diseases such as Guinea worm, Elephantiasis, River blindness and possibly Trachoma by 2030.”
Evans Liyosi, the WHO Representative in Sierra Leone says: “Today’s milestone has been a long arduous journey. Many years ago, when everyday more than 1000 cases of polio were recorded globally, the thought of reaching this stage in the fight against the disease was farfetched. However, today’s event is evidence of the fact that immunization campaigns and strong routine services are important first steps of protection against preventable diseases”. He adds: “We feel particularly proud that we are celebrating this day in our own lifetime. However, we have a long and critical transition ahead of us as the virus is still in circulation in at least two countries in the world. That requires us to continue surveillance and to vaccinate our children against the disease until polio is completely eradicated from every country”.
The Sierra Leone government’s commitment has been strong as demonstrated by the establishment of robust national disease surveillance system, and strategic leadership of the Ministry of Health and Sanitation in organizing national and subnational polio immunization campaigns and routine immunization services, some of which were synchronized with other sister countries in the region and supported by Gavi, WHO, UNICEF, Rotary International and other development partners, the statement goes on.
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