18 polio cases not to be taken lightly

Editorial

TO date, 18 polio cases have been reported in the country affecting seven provinces.
Health records show cases in Eastern Highlands (six), Morobe (three), Madang (three), National Capital District (one), Jiwaka (one), Enga (three) and East Sepik (one).
Reports from the World Health Organisation show one polio death in Enga.
The first case was detected in June and for polio cases to reach double digit within four months, is enough to send the message for an urgent need for redoubled efforts on the part of all those involved in the vaccination campaigns.
Today is World Polio Day which was established by Rotary International over a decade ago to commemorate the birth of Jonas Salk, who led the first team to develop a vaccine against poliomyelitis. Polio is a crippling and potentially fatal disease.
PNG joints the rest of the world in marking this day with its planned events.
The day is an annual global event that presents an opportunity to rally partners, donors, health workers and communities around the importance of addressing the challenges of eradicating polio.
PNG was declared polio-free in 2000 but the rate of vaccinations has been falling in recent years and an outbreak was confirmed in June.
This year, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative marks its 30th year.
While the world saw the lowest case count of wild polio in history in 2017, transmission has continued into 2018 and challenges in reaching children with the vaccine remain in some countries.
The virus, which mainly affects children, causes paralysis of varying degrees of seriousness.
It spreads through faecal-oral contamination, multiplies in the intestines, and then to the nervous system.
There is no cure for the disease, which can only be combatted by vaccinations in childhood.
Since the detection of poliovirus in April, WHO has been working with the government on the investigation, laboratory confirmation, enhanced surveillance and response activities.
The reality is that every new case of polio isn’t just a statistic but each represents a child who will be permanently paralysed, and that should not be taken lightly.
Everyone should be concerned and make it their business to have children immunised and adults to get a polio booster.
A total of 1.6 million doses of vaccines have been shipped to the country for use in the first two rounds of the vaccination campaign.
The task being undertaken by the government and its partners to minimise, control and contain the spread can be seen as very complex medical campaign – to eradicate polio, the nerve-destroying virus that has caused death and disability on a terrifying scale.
The outbreak should serve as a reminder that high vaccination coverage is essential where the disease is not currently circulating.
Although it seems like a major setback to eradication efforts, the polio outbreak might be used as an opportunity to strengthen eradication campaigns by reminding local political, religious, and community leaders that the persistence of poliovirus transmission has economic repercussions.