A Healthier Future For Mothers And Children

“No place is safe until polio has been eradicated everywhere. As long as the virus still exists somewhere in the world, it can spread – including in our own country. We now have a realistic chance to eradicate polio completely.”- Svenja Schulze, Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany. Globally, millions of children are at a heightened risk of contracting polio. Polio is a preventable disease. Unfortunately amid disruptions to vital immunization programmes due to the coronavirus pandemic the time is now for the international community to renew and redouble all efforts to eradicate polio. Polio is a highly contagious and dangerous disease caused by a virus that attacks the nervous system. Poliomyelitis (polio) is a highly infectious viral disease that largely affects children under 5 years of age. The virus is transmitted by person-to-person spread mainly through the faecal-oral route or, less frequently, by a common vehicle (e.g. contaminated water or food) and multiplies in the intestine, from where it can invade the nervous system and cause paralysis. According to Mayo Clinic the most serious form of the disease is rare. Initial signs and symptoms of paralytic polio, such as fever and headache, often mimic those of nonparalytic polio. Within a week, however, other signs and symptoms appear, including: loss of reflexes, severe muscle aches and weaknesses and loose and floppy limbs. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), such is the danger level of this disease that 1 in 200 infected people face the risk of permanent paralysis. Therefore, the eradication of polio was considered important on a global scale. This is why World Polio Day is an important occasion, observed to raise awareness for the polio vaccination and the eradication of polio. World Polio Day (WPD) is observed every year on October 24, by Rotary International to earmark the birth anniversary of the famous virologist Jonas Salk, who discovered the polio vaccine in the year 1955. This day focuses to spread awareness about poliomyelitis, its preventive measures, and embark activities to eliminate this disabling condition, worldwide. World Polio Day commemorates global efforts toward a polio-free future, as well as the selfless sacrifices of those working on the frontline of the battle to eradicate polio from every corner of the world. Polio is contagious due to the ease with which the poliovirus spreads. Although the virus is now exceedingly rare because of modern interventions, it can impair the brain regions that govern respiration, resulting in death. Polio, which has no recognized therapy, can only be avoided through vaccination. This year, the overarching theme is “World Polio Day 2022 and Beyond: A healthier future for mothers and children.” The theme urges to acknowledge the progress made so far in the struggle to eradicate polio in children and how they will continue to work together to give a healthier future for mothers and children. This way, mothers will be able to have a positive pregnancy experience, and children will reach their full developmental potential for a brighter and better future. Over the years Jamaica has had a robust immunization campaign. As a result Jamaica was able to successfully eliminate poliomyelitis in 1982. In 2019, Jamaica’s immunization schedule offered vaccination against 12 vaccine-preventable diseases as recommended by the World Health Organization. The majority of these vaccine doses are delivered in the first year of life, along with measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine and booster doses of polio vaccine in the second year of life. A booster dose of polio and a diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) vaccine is administered to children aged 4 – 6 years. Health Systems and Funding A discussion regarding ending polio cannot be had outside of the wider discourse concerning the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, especially Goal #3 which addresses healthy lives and the promotion of well-being for all. Infant immunization coverage dropped to 83 per cent in 2020 from 86 per cent in 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic and associated disruptions have resulted in the missing out on vaccinations of 22.7 million children, 3.7 million more than in 2019 and the highest number since 2005. Moreover, 17.1 million children did not receive vaccines through the routine immunization programme, an increase from 13.6 million. Measles is a highly contagious disease and the current coverage levels of 70 per cent with 2 doses of the vaccine are insufficient to prevent measles outbreaks and illness, disability and deaths caused by complications associated with the disease. Targeting girls 9-14 years of age, the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine to prevent cervical cancer was offered in 111 countries in 2020, but is still yet to reach the poorest countries. Improvements in essential health services, as measured by the universal health coverage service index, increased from a global average of 45 out of 100 in 2000 to 67 out of 100 in 2019, with the highest score in Europe and Northern America (81), and the lowest in sub-Saharan Africa (45). The pandemic is likely to halt the continuous progress made in service coverage expansion over the past 20 years, as health systems face challenges with respect to ensuring the continuity of essential health services. Even before the pandemic, the global proportion of the population with out-of-pocket health spending exceeding 10 per cent of their household budget was on the rise, exceeding 13 per cent. With the combined health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, people are likely to face greater financial constraints on access to care and among those paying out of pocket for health, financial hardship is likely to worsen further, particularly among already disadvantaged populations. Working Partnerships As a spearheading partner of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), helps to vaccinate over 400 million children globally against polio every year. The expertise of UNICEF lies in the supply of safe vaccines, and building trust and motivating parents to vaccinate their children against polio. Working across 190 countries, in some of the world’s toughest places to reach the most disadvantaged children, no other organization is better placed to lead the global fight to eradicate polio. In some communities where cultural norms prevent men from entering households, female community polio workers are in the frontlines, building community trust and reaching all children. On World Polio Day we must also remember the polio workers who are tasked with going into the rural villages especially in countries such as Pakistan and Afghanistan in order to vaccinate children against polio. Sadly, in the past some of these workers have been murdered out of ignorance. It is imperative that on such an important day in the field of medicine we pause to recall the sacrifices of polio workers. Let us continue the work to strengthen partnerships on this World Polio Day as the world moves towards ending polio. In the words of Catherine Russell, UNICEF Executive Director, eradicating polio will not only save this generation and all future generations from the scourge of polio. It will also save the world an estimated $33 billion in this century, an average of $400 million each year that could go towards tackling other threats to children. Wayne Campbell is an educator and social commentator with an interest in development policies as they affect culture and or gender issues. waykam@yahoo.com @WayneCamo © #EndPolio #WorldPolioDay