Africa is finally free of the Wild Poliovirus

A HISTORIC public health achievement has been made on the continent – the World Health Organisation has declared that Africa is polio free.  

On Tuesday, 25 August, Rotary International and its partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) announced the achievement, stating that this comes after Nigeria, the only remaining country in Africa with endemic poliovirus, recorded its last case more than three years ago.

This is a significant announcement as the virus affects mostly children younger than five years of age, and one in 200 polio infections will result in lifelong paralysis.

Of such cases, five to 10 per cent are fatal.

Poliomyelitus is a highly infectious viral disease.

While Millennials and GenZ may not have heard of it, in the 1980s approximately 350 000 people were infected annually, mainly via the faecal-oral route or, less frequently, through contaminated water or food.

There is no cure, but polio can be prevented through a simple and effective vaccine.

June Webber, the South African Rotarian who spearheaded the “Kick polio out of Africa” campaign, acknowledged the impetus given to the project by Nelson Mandela in 1996, a time when almost all countries in Africa were still suffering from polio.

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Since then, thanks to the dedicated efforts of thousands of Rotary members and other GPEI partners, local and national leaders, health workers, traditional and religious leaders, parents, and country leaders, African nations have immunised hundreds of millions of children across 47 countries and strengthened polio surveillance networks, averting an estimated 1.8 million cases of wild poliovirus on the continent.

Volunteers and frontline health workers, mostly women, travelled by every form of transportation imaginable to reach children with the polio vaccine.

They worked up to 12 hours a day, often in soaring temperatures of over 40-degrees.

Webber said: “One of the great achievements of our generation is the eradication of smallpox. Similarly, the eradication of wild polio in Africa will go down as one of the greatest achievements of this generation.” Webber continued, “But we cannot let our guard down. The aim is not merely to reduce the numbers afflicted, it is to eliminate the disease completely. No country can be safe from this disease until the whole world is rid of it. For it can cross borders with ease.” He said the wild virus continues to circulate in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and as long as it circulates anywhere, all children are at risk.

Sue Paget, CEO of the Rotary Action Group for Family Health & AIDS Prevention, said this was a momentous announcement.

“Against the background of Covid-19, this announcement serves to illustrate what can be achieved when the system is trusted and children are vaccinated against infectious disease.” Five out of six World Health Organisation regions are now wild polio free.  

Caxton Local Media Covid-19 reporting

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