How Polio Eradication Has Had Positive Spinoffs for Public Health
Four decades ago, an estimated 350,000 people were paralysed each year by the poliovirus in more than 125 countries. This led the World Health Assembly in 1988 to adopt a resolution for the worldwide eradication of polio, drawing inspiration from the eradication of smallpox.The global strategy to eradicate polio involves widespread vaccination as part of routine healthcare services as well as mass vaccination campaigns. The polio eradication programme in Africa directly combated a severe debilitating disease. But it also provided a platform for broader healthcare services on the continent. Polio eradication created renewed demand for vaccination services and innovative ways to deliver healthcare services, writes Charles Shey Wiysonge for The Conversation Africa.
InFocus
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The Africa Regional Certification Commission has declared the continent free of endemic polio after a decades-long campaign against the disease. Nigeria, which accounted for more ... Read more »
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When unfounded rumours led to a vaccine boycott in Nigeria, some traditional leaders in the north, teamed up with the government to lead the polio campaign on the importance of ... Read more »
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Simultaneous outbreaks of Ebola on opposite sides of DR Congo, a drop in vaccination rates for killer diseases like polio, a resurgence of malaria and other preventable ... Read more »
Polio vaccination (file photo).
