31 October 2008
The United Nations has taken steps to combat polio by holding a workshop in Chad for the world's major experts to discuss efforts to eradicate the disease in the poor, landlocked Africa country.
Held earlier this month in N'Djamena, the capital, under the auspices of the UN World Health Organization (WHO), the workshop allowed members of the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to review progress in implementing recommendations that had been formulated at the first TAG meeting in 2005.
"This has been a very useful workshop," said WHO's representative in Chad, Youssouf Gamaé, according to a press release issued today. "They [TAG members] acknowledged the achievements, and highlighted the gaps which need to be addressed in order to reach the goal of polio eradication in the African region by 2009."
One in 200 polio infections lead to irreversible paralysis, usually in the legs, and among those paralyzed an estimated 5 to 10 percent die when their breathing muscles become immobilized.
The disease mainly affects children aged below give, and only half of this group in Chad has been vaccinated.
A number of conclusions reached at the meeting include the need to reinforce epidemic surveillance against the disease and the need for advocacy so that families may allow their children to be vaccinated.
"We are committed to continue leading our technical assistance and support to the Government of Chad, in close collaboration with WHO, in all initiatives towards polio eradication, with particular focus on communication strategy and social mobilization activities", said UN Children Fund (UNICEF) representative Marzio Babille.
While global efforts saw polio cases decrease by over 99 percent from 1988 to 2006, some 25 previously polio-free countries were re-infected due to imports of the virus between 2003 and 2005.
As a "transit" country due to population movements, Chad helped spread polio from Nigeria - where an outbreak began in 2003 - to the Horn of Africa, Western Asia and Indonesia, with a cost for the international community of $500 million to contain it.
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