Petronella Sibeene
6 November 2008
The continental poliovirus certification body, the Africa Regional Certification Commission on Polio Eradication, has declared Namibia polio-free.
Minister of Health and Social Services, Dr Richard Kamwi, yesterday told New Era that Namibia has now joined 24 other countries with a polio-free status.
Polio, short for poliomyelitis, is a disease that can damage the nervous system and cause paralysis.
In 2006, Namibia lost its polio-free status after more than 10 years when the disease resurfaced and claimed a number of lives.
The status was regained after Namibia proved to the commission that there is no poliovirus circulating in Namibia.
Two weeks ago, Namibia together with Burkina Faso, Eritrea, Liberia, Mali and Madagascar submitted their country reports on polio for scrutiny to the commission.
The submission was made during the 10th Annual General Meeting for the commission in Windhoek.
"I am glad to report that the complete country documentation prepared and presented by Namibia was accepted, meaning Namibia was declared as having achieved standards for polio-free status in the WHO Africa Region," said the minister.
The minister added, "This (polio-free status) is no mean feat for our country considering the massive outbreak we went through only two years ago."
Having achieved such a status Namibia is expected to submit annual updates to the commission.
While Namibia has been certified polio-free, the poliovirus is still circulating in some African countries such as Nigeria.
Other endemic countries in the world are Afghanistan, India and Pakistan.
"The fact that importation from India reached our country through Angola continues to be a source of worry," the minister said.
He, however, assured that Namibia with the support of development partners is taking strong measures that would limit the spread of wild poliovirus in the country.
The minister mentioned routine immunisation programmes as one such effort.
"Each year our government pays for two rounds of supplementary polio immunisation activities targeting children below five years of age, synchronised with Angola as a means to further boost immunity of the population," the minister added.
The 'Reaching Every District' (RED) approach has also been instituted to ensure that even the poorly performing districts (northern borders) are reached.
A surveillance system designed to actively seek out cases of paralysis among children below the age of 15 years is also in place.
The minister says a lack of human resources and limited transport means to cover long distances remain an obstacle to the efforts.
Despite the problems, "The ministry will continue to strive to keep the country polio-free and will respond effectively should any importation occur," Kamwi said.
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