23/6/2006
Resurgence of Polio in Namibia

The number of suspected polio cases in Namibia has now surpassed 100.  More than a dozen people have died, but a massive United Nations-backed campaign to immunise the entire population of some 1.8 million against the often paralysing and sometimes fatal disease swung into action this week.

Of the 109 suspected cases, 13 have so far been confirmed. Experience in outbreak response has shown that quick and repeated vaccination campaigns reaching the target population are highly effective. With such intervention, most outbreaks are stopped within 6 to 12 months.

All over the country the stamina and generosity demanded by the three-day campaign were evident at immunisation posts, health clinics, schools, crèches, homes, farms and factories, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported. Namibians have come out in record numbers on this first round of the campaign, and health workers and volunteers outdid themselves in response, the agency said. UNICEF purchased two and a half million doses of the vaccine, more than enough, even allowing for wastage.

The origin of the outbreak has not yet been determined. But according to the UN World Health Organisation, (WHO), the virus may have come from neighbouring Angola, which reported its most recent case in November. As long as the virus circulates anywhere, all countries face a risk of importing it.

Worldwide incidence of the disease has been cut by 99 per cent since 1988 thanks to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative spearheaded by national governments, Rotary
International, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), WHO and UNICEF, with a coalition that includes non-governmental organisations (NGOs), corporations, foundations and development banks.

But the initiative faces a funding gap of $85 million for this year and a further $400
million for 2007 and 2008.