Sunday, August 08, 2010

POLIO PLAN FOR 2010-2012


The World Health Organization and UNICEF co-hosted a meeting with Rotary International and other stakeholders 18 June in Geneva to launch the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) Strategic Plan 2010-12.
The new plan comes at a critical time for the GPEI, as key endemic countries are witnessing historic gains against the disease. Nowhere is progress more evident than in Nigeria, which has reported just six cases in 2010 as of 28 July, compared with 349 cases for the same period in 2009. India has reported 24 cases compared with 152 cases.
An essential element of the plan is the bivalent oral polio vaccine, which is being used effectively against wild poliovirus types 1 and 3 in all four endemic countries: Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and Pakistan. (Type 2 poliovirus has been eradicated.)
The plan also focuses on known polio migration routes, which have made outbreaks of the disease largely predictable. Aggressive synchronized immunization campaigns are now being used to help prevent and stop outbreaks.

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