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The continent’s last case of polio caused by the wild virus was detected on 21 August 2016 in Nigeria. Africa is expected to be certified free of wild polio by early next year following an independent evaluation process, however vaccine-derived cases of the disease still pose a challenge.
Moeti attributed present progress to an “unprecedented scale” of multinational effort by governments, partners, and health workers, who have deployed financial and technical resources to provide vaccination and education, especially in remote areas.
“It has involved men and women volunteering in the thousands, sometimes putting themselves in harm’s way,” Moeti said.
Once Africa is declared free of the disease, five of the WHO’s six regions will be free of wild polio. Only what the WHO calls the Eastern Mediterranean is still fighting the disease, with polio still endemic in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Wild vs vaccine-derived polio
The circulating vaccine-derived polio will be subject to a certification process that’s separate from the wild polio process, according to WHO.
“Suboptimal routine immunization coverage remains a critical challenge in some countries,” the WHO said in a statement. “As a result, outbreaks of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus — a rare occurrence in communities with low levels of population immunity — are still possible in several countries across Africa.”
Children under 5 are most vulnerable to the disease. Symptoms of the paralyzing disease include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck and pain in the limbs. There is no cure for polio. However, it can be prevented by a vaccine.
Eradication challenges
Insecurity, conflict, migration, and parents refusing to get their children vaccinated are some challenges that hamper vaccination efforts in Nigeria, according to WHO.
Dr. Oyewale Tomori, a professor of virology at Redeemer’s University in Nigeria, said there were still hurdles for the Nigerian government and health monitoring agencies to cross in the country’s northeast where terror group Boko Haram still wages deadly attacks, killing health workers.
“Until we can confidently say we have reached all the children in these areas were a case was found in 2016, that is when we can celebrate,” Tomori said.
“To detect a case of wild polio, we need to go to communities to see children who have symptoms and take samples but there are certain areas that there is insecurity and this poses a challenge of accessibility,” Mkanda said.