The World Health Organisation (WHO)is expected this week to declare polio a global health emergency asit battles complacency in an attempt to eradicate the deadly virus forever.
This year has seen a decline in cases but health officials say they have only half the funding they need to wipe out the disease in its last three remaining havens – Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria. Sona Bari, spokesperson for the polio eradication programme at the World Health Organisation, said the world faced a “now or never” moment.
Failing to stamp out the disease could mean recent gains are reversed and as many as 200,000 children crippled by polio in the next decade. “We are really on a tipping point between success and failure,” she said. The first polio vaccine was developed in the 1950s and a second version – given orally – is credited with reducing cases by more than 99 per cent. However, efforts to eradicate the disease completely have stalled in recent years. In 2011, a surge in the disease was reported across Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria, with 650 cases around the world. So far this year, India has been declared polio free and the first four months of the year have seen cases drop substantially in the three endemic countries – offering a real chance that polio could now be wiped out if health officials secure $1bn to meet their target of $2bn for the year ahead. The issue will be discussed by ministers of health from around the world at a meeting of the World Health Assembly in Geneva. They are expected to declare a global health emergency, attracting extra funding and possibly also allowing polio-free countries to vaccinate people arriving at airport terminals from affected countries. Each of the three countries has its own problems.
