The World Health Organisation has declared the recent spread of polio an international public health emergency, according to a statement released on Monday. In the first four months of 2014, 68 new cases of the disease were recorded in the world. Only 24 new cases were reported during the same period last year. The disease has also resurfaced in countries where it was thought to have been eradicated, like Pakistan and Cameroon. “The international spread of polio constitutes a public health risk to all countries across the world,” reads the WHO statement. “If unchecked, this situation could result in failure to eradicate globally one of the world’s most serious preventable diseases,” the report adds. This is only the second time in its history that the organisation has issued such a warning. The first time was with the swine flu pandemic in 2009. Rwanda celebrated 20 years of polio eradication this past October, but there is still a risk of the disease crossing the border. “Our national coverage is more than 95 per cent and our national monitoring programme indicates that we are doing very well in preventing the disease,” said Emmanuel Nzaramba, who is in charge of the vaccine preventable diseases department at Rwanda Biomedical Centre. “Our only danger comes from the countries neighbouring us,” he added. Issues such as difficulty in reaching isolated communities and religious beliefs against vaccination have made it difficult for some countries neighbouring Rwanda to obtain routine immunisation coverage. Because of these lower levels of immunisation, countries such as Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo have registered new polio cases in recent years. The WHO has rated the risk of polio spreading across the border of Cameroon as very high, which could make some of Rwanda’s neighbours susceptible to the disease. To fight the threat, Nzaramba said, Rwanda needs to continue using the same preventative methods. “We have to reinforce the vaccination and surveillance programmes,” he said. Rwanda currently has three main strategies to combat polio. The first focuses on maintaining the country’s high rate of immunisation coverage for children less than one year. This is accomplished through triple-doses of an oral poliovirus vaccine with routine immunisation. The second establishes effective surveillance systems which ensure there is no incidence of the disease. Finally, the Ministry of Health also provides supplemental vaccinations on National Immunisation Day to make sure any incidence of wild poliovirus isn’t transmitted. “If we maintain this level of surveillance and make sure children are vaccinated, the country will be out of danger,” said Nzaramba.
