Eradication of polio in the COVID-19 pandemic

Seattle, WA — 1240 Clubs in Rotary District Purple Pinky Campaign Over 20 years ago, it eradicated polio and developed a very successful and creative movement to bring polio vaccination to the public and raise money. Until the COVID-19 pandemic, the world is probably Closest to polio eradication It cripples and sometimes kills children under the age of five. However, the tensions COVID-19 imposed on the public health system drew resources from funding other important medical activities, including polio vaccination.

Polio vaccination

The Purple Pinky campaign paints pinkies in purple to match the purple stamps that children in developing countries receive with their fingers after being vaccinated. This iconic campaign rotary Immunize more than 2.5 billion children through the End Polio Now initiative. Working with other organizations such as the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which fund and distribute vaccinations, polio has moved 0.1% away from eradication. Only a few survive in poor communities.

If successful, polio will be one of two smallpox eradicated so far. WHO reported on World Polio Day 2019 that there are no more than 100 polio left. However, the pandemic is likely to prevent millions of children from being vaccinated against polio. For infectious diseases, timing is everything.. Pakistan alone is about 40 new polio cases Already this year.

Use of polio as a model for COVID-19

In half the big picture, the countries where the polio vaccination team is located are well equipped to process COVID-19.

In addition, the global success experienced by eliminating polio can be replicated to process the new coronavirus. Financing, testing and international partnerships are important. Already, WHO-coordinated polio laboratories (16 laboratories in 15 countries) Dedicate half of the space to COVID-19 testing.. Today, African laboratories use polio testing machines to process hundreds of COVID-19 tests daily.

Poverty and vaccination

Diseases such as polio and COVID-19 indicate that poverty and vaccination are interrelated. In countries with infectious diseases such as polio, the health system is usually inadequate and the economy is unstable, and without external humanitarian assistance, the disease is constantly spreading. Poor people are usually heavily affected by illness due to lack of effective sanitation systems, clean water and adequate nutrition in the community.

For children who are currently in poverty, polio vaccination makes the difference between staying in poverty and getting up. In addition, polio-induced paralysis can prevent children from returning to school and change what they can achieve in adulthood.

Other infectious diseases

Unfortunately, in some developing countries, not only COVID-19 and polio, but also other diseases Violence and instability due to armed conflict.. For example, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is facing the epidemic of Ebola and radical terrorists. Yemen is now fighting cholera, a humanitarian crisis and a decline in international aid. Honduras suffers from dengue fever and violence by gangsters Cambodia I am facing the outbreak of measles, rubella and whooping cough.

Look ahead

Some countries continued polio vaccination with reduced capacity when the pandemic first occurred. Countries such as Ethiopia and Nepal are resuming vaccination programs in response to the rise of other illnesses. Nearly $ 9 billion in funding received from the Global Vaccine Summit in June 2020 Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, in addition to funding COVID-19 aid, is a coveted vaccination campaign for other diseases To continue. Additional support through the International Situation Budget will also greatly help bring the world closer to reducing the growing number of infectious diseases.

Email Or call Today’s parliamentarians to help increase the $ 20 billion international affairs budget to fight COVID-19 worldwide and to support resources for HIV / AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and anti-hunger programs.

-Maria Malavito
Photo: Flickr