Global leaders have committed over Sh315 billion (USD2.6 billion) to support worldwide initiatives on eradicating polio.
Moreover, this money, through the Global Polio Eradication Initiative 2022–2026 Strategy, is meant to support the vaccination of 370 million kids yearly for the next five years.
It will also keep polio disease surveillance active in 50 nations.
“No place is safe until polio has been eradicated everywhere. As long as the virus still exists somewhere in the world, it can spread. We now have a realistic chance to eradicate polio completely, and we want to jointly seize that chance,” said Svenja Schulze, Germany’s Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, during the World Health Summit held in Berlin.
In addition, Wild poliovirus (WPV1) is endemic in just two countries, including Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Six cases of the WPV1 were recorded in 2021, while 29 more cases have been recorded so far this year, as well as a small number of new detections in southeast Africa linked to a strain originating in Pakistan.
Likewise, in February this year, Kenya was on high alert following a polio case detected in a child in Lilongwe, Malawi.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the case is the first WPV1 in Africa in more than five years.
Moreover, Malawi last recorded a case of wild poliovirus in 1992.
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Furthermore, laboratory analysis indicate that the strain detected in Malawi is linked to the one that has been circulating in Sindh Province in Pakistan since October 2019.
Nevertheless, in August 2020, Africa was declared free of wild polio and WHO said the new case did not affect that status. Likewise, Kenya has not reported any cases of WPV1 since 2014.
WHO also reported that, outbreaks of cVDPV, variants of the poliovirus that can emerge in places where people are not immunized, continue to spread across parts of Africa, Asia, and Europe, with new outbreaks detected in the United States, Israel, and the United Kingdom in recent months.
“The new detections of polio this year in previously polio-free countries are a stark reminder that if we do not deliver our goal of ending polio everywhere, it may resurge globally,” stated Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.
“We are grateful for donors’ new and continued support for eradication, but there is further work to do to fully fund the 2022-2026 Strategy. We must remember the significant challenges we have overcome to get this far against polio, stay the course and finish the job once and for all.” Said the WHO boss.
Nevertheless, the Berlin pledge event represented the first significant chance to commit funds toward the US$ 4.8 billion required to implement the 2022–2026 Strategy properly.
In addition, continued financing for GPEI will make it possible to provide underprivileged populations with various health services and vaccinations in addition to polio vaccines.
“Children deserve to live in a polio-free world, but as we have seen this year with painful clarity, until we reach every community and vaccinate every child, the threat of polio will persist. UNICEF is grateful for the generosity of our donors and the pledges made today, which will help us finish the job of eradicating polio. When we invest in immunization and health systems, we are investing in a safer, healthier future for everyone, everywhere,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.
