Although it missed its original goal of eliminating polio worldwide by 2000, UNICEF believes it can rid the world of the paralyzing disease by 2005. In an interview with CNN, UNICEF Senior Advisor for polio eradication, Carl Tinstman, noted that UNICEF had already made amazing progress in eliminating polio and reiterated that the organization believes it can eliminate polio by 2005.
Although UNICEF did fail to meet the year 2000 goal it set in 1988, the bottom line is that in that time polio cases have fallen by 95 percent around the world and whereas polio was a serious health problem in 125 countries in 1988, in 2000 it is a problem in only 30 countries.
To eliminate polio by 2005, UNICEF plans on taking some extraordinary measures. it is concentrating its efforts on South Asia — India, Pakistan and Bangladesh — as well as west and central Africa, the two areas where most cases of polio occur today. In Africa, UNICEF is going to engage in an unprecedented vaccination effort,
We’re going to synchronize the immunization days in 17 countries across Africa. That means that in 17 countries in the same week in October, and again a month later during the same week in November, we’re going to attempt to reach every single child under the age of 5 in all 17 countries across west and central Africa. We’ll reach them with two drops of polio vaccine. This has never been done before. But this is the kind of coordinated action that the eradication of polio is going to require.
If such efforts are successful, UNICEF hopes to have an end to new polio cases by 2002. An additional three years of monitoring will take place to ensure that there really are no new cases, before UNICEF would certify the world to be free of polio in 2005.
This would be the second disease, after small pox, to be eradicated thanks to medical efforts. Above and beyond saving children from a debilitating disease, the eradication would save up to $1.5 billion a year around the world since once authorities are certain that the disease is eradicated, routine polio vaccination of children can be phased out much as routine small pox immunization was.
Source:
UNICEF’s Carl Tinstman discusses eradicating polio worldwide. CNN, September 27, 2000.