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June 24, 2002

INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"World May Have Last Polio Case in 2003, Health Group Says" Chicago Tribune (www.chicagotribune.com) (06/22/02) P. 3; Paur, Kathy

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced last week that Europe and Central Asia have been labeled officially polio-free as a result of the agency's massive eradication efforts.  A campaign began in 1988 to eradicate the poliovirus worldwide, resulting in the number of cases dropping from 350,000 that year to just 480 in 2001.  In order to stipulate a region as polio-free, the WHO must first observe that no endemic cases occur for three years, and that none were likely to occur in the future because of diligent immunization and surveillance on the part of health officials to detect and intercede in cases resulting from foreign exposure.  Three more regions including Africa, the Eastern Mediterranean, and Southeast Asia are slated to be named the next WHO success story.  By the end of last year, polio was endemic in only 10 countries, with 85 percent of cases occurring in India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria, and Niger and the balance in Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Egypt and Angola. Funding is the primary component behind a successful disease eradication strategy and the current imitative in Africa, Southeast Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean is $275 million short of the $1 billion needed for the entire program scheduled to end in 2005, and $60 million short to complete the 2002 vaccinations.  Rotary International, at $493 million, is the largest private donor to the WHO's fund and the originator of the global immunization program called PolioPlus in 1985, plans to launch a $80 million fundraiser on behalf of the World Health Assembly which launched the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988.

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