Poliomyelitis: Mechanism for Management of Potential Risks to Eradication

World Health Assembly Declaration: Implications for Communication:

Note: While it is unusual for The Communication Initiative (CI) to make editorial comment I thought that this document was significant enough to post and to place in a communication/advocacy context. I do so in my capacity as a member of the Pakistan and Afghanistan Technical Advisory Group on Polio Eradication as well as my capacity as a member of The CI staff.

The resolutions from the World Health Assembly in May represent an important moment in the world's campaign to eradicate polio. They have also been called 'historic' by more than one observer for the way they frankly look at the situation and name specific countries calling for large-scale operations in India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan and for Nigeria to move quickly to reduce the risk of international spread of polio by controlling the outbreak in northern Nigeria. It is highly unusual for countries to be named in such a way, and the fact that this level of awareness and commitment exists amongst global health leaders is testament to the important and ongoing global advocacy campaign that, in spite of setbacks and missed deadlines, continues to garner political and financial support. This ongoing global advocacy has kept polio on the agenda and helped ensure funding and leadership support to the all important campaigns and communication programmes that go on daily in the fight to eradicate polio. - Chris Morry

This 3-page document includes a resolution adopted by the 61st World Health Assembly (WHA)'s 7th plenary meeting on May 23 2008, which is part of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. This resolution calls for the intensification of polio eradication efforts and highlights the risk of re-emergence into polio-free areas if the 4 endemic countries (Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, Pakistan) do not take action to stop polio transmission. For example, WHA calls on Nigeria to move quickly to reduce the risk of international spread of polio by ensuring that all children - especially those in the northern part of that country - are immunised with oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV).

Partnership is one strategy proposed in the document to meet these goals. For instance, WHA argues for the need to recognise the importance of international coordination of the strategies to minimise and manage the long-term risks of reintroduction of poliovirus and re-emergence of poliomyelitis after interruption of wild poliovirus transmission globally - "[n]oting that planning for such international consensus must begin now in order to be ready for implementation without delay after transmission of wild poliovirus is interrupted globally."