[D9640general] eFlash_Rotary] Digest Number 1034

[Garry & Anne Krischock]

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1.         1901 :  Global Polio Eradication Initiative Launches  Strategic
Plan From: Sunil 


Posted by: "Sunil"
<mailto:sunilkzach at yahoo.co.uk?Subject=%20Re%3A1901%20%3A%20%20Global%20Poli
o%20Eradication%20Initiative%20Launches%20%20Strategic%20Plan>
sunilkzach at yahoo.co.uk    <http://profiles.yahoo.com/sunilkzach> sunilkzach 


Fri Jun 18, 2010 7:15 pm (PDT) 


New strategy builds on 99% drop in Nigeria cases but faces 50% funding
shortfall

GENEVA (June 17, 2010) - In Geneva this Friday, a broad range of
stakeholders will formally launch the new Strategic Plan 2010-2012 for
eradicating wild poliovirus.

Polio eradication sits at a critical juncture. Across Africa, 10 of the 15
previously polio-free countries re-infected in 2009 have successfully
stopped their outbreaks. Key endemic countries are witnessing historic gains
against the disease. Nowhere is progress more evident than Nigeria, where
case numbers have plummeted by more than 99% - from 312 cases at this time
last year, to three in 2010. In India, for the first time ever, the
remaining endemic states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have not reported any
wild poliovirus type 1 cases concurrently for more than six months.

This meeting in Geneva is being held to build on the gains already made in
2010 and to galvanize new action on polio eradication. Last month, the World
Health Assembly welcomed the new plan while expressing deep concern about
the US $1.3 billion funding shortfall (out of a budget of US $2.6 billion)
over the next three years. This financing shortfall is a serious risk to the
eradication of polio - activities are already being cut back or postponed
due to a lack of funds.

The Ministers of Health of Nigeria, Afghanistan, Angola and Senegal, among a
number of other senior health ministry officials, existing and potential
funders, vaccine manufacturers and key partner organizations will attend the
meeting - co-hosted by WHO Director-General Margaret Chan and the new UNICEF
Executive Director Tony Lake - to discuss the implementation, monitoring,
economics and financing of the new plan.

Dr Margaret Chan called on the international funding community to stand tall
for polio eradication. "The next three years, and especially the next 12
months, are critical to the polio eradication initiative and, by extension,
the entire international public health agenda."

The new plan builds on major lessons learnt to date, including findings from
a major independent evaluation examining the remaining barriers to
eradication. It introduces district- and area-specific strategies to target
the ever-shrinking remaining reservoirs of poliovirus, exploits the
game-changing bivalent oral polio vaccine to increase the impact of
immunizations, and tackles health system weaknesses. The success of this
plan now hinges on implementation of activities at field level and the
provision of adequate financing.

Partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative are examining every
possible option to seek fresh funding while managing existing cash flow to
limit any threat to the immunization plan. The risk of not stopping polio in
endemic countries was made clear when a large type-1 outbreak originally
from India spread to Tajikistan early in 2010 where, to date, it has
paralysed 239 children. Tajikistan had been polio-free since 1997. This
highlights the urgency of capitalizing on recent gains made in the
polio-endemic countries.

"Polio eradication remains an urgent priority for our foundation," said
Tachi Yamada, president of global health at the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation. "We call on donor governments to also prioritize polio as we
seek to eliminate these last, most difficult cases."

"The complete eradication of polio is an absolute goal and it requires
absolute commitment from us all," said UNICEF Executive Director Tony Lake.

"Rotary believes the new Strategic Plan provides the blueprint to achieving
the goal of polio eradication," said Carl-Wilhelm Stenhammar, 2010-11 Chair,
The Rotary Foundation. When Rotary initially launched the effort in 1985,
1000 children were being paralyzed daily by polio across 125 countries each
year. Rotary has since contributed more than US $900 million in that time,
and the incidence of polio has fallen by more than 99%.

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) is spearheaded by national
governments, WHO, Rotary International, the US Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) and UNICEF. Since 1988 (the year the GPEI was
launched), the incidence of polio has been reduced by more than 99%. In
1988, more than 350,000 children were paralyzed each year in more than 125
endemic countries. In 2009, 1595 children were paralyzed in 24 countries.
Only four countries remain endemic: Nigeria, India, Pakistan and
Afghanistan.

Contact: Petina Dixon, Rotary International, tel: +1 847 866 3054, Email:
<mailto:Petina.Dixon%40rotary.org> Petina.Dixon at rotary.org 

Source : Rotary International News / Courtesy : eFlash_Rotary

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