World facing polio health emergency Skip to main content

World facing polio health emergency

World facing polio health emergency
 
BBC News outlines the struggle against polio - in 60 seconds

Related Stories

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the spread of polio is an international public health emergency. 

Outbreaks in Asia, Africa and Middle East are an "extraordinary event" needing a co-ordinated "international response", the agency says.

It recommends citizens of affected countries travelling abroad carry a vaccination certificate.
It says Pakistan, Cameroon, and Syria "pose the greatest risk of further wild poliovirus exportations in 2014."

The WHO recorded 417 cases of polio worldwide for the whole of 2013. For 2014, it had already recorded 68 cases by 30 April - up from 24 in the same period last year.
Polio mainly affects children under five years old.

The virus is transmitted through contaminated food and water, and multiplies in the intestine. It can then invade the nervous system, causing paralysis in one in every 200 infections. It is capable of causing death within hours.

'Ongoing risk'
 
"The conditions for a public health emergency of international concern have been met," said Bruce Aylward, WHO Assistant Director General.
The history of Polio Poliomyelitis has existed as long as human society, but became a major public health issue in late Victorian times with major epidemics in Europe and the United States. The disease, which causes spinal and respiratory paralysis, can kill and remains incurable but vaccines have assisted in its almost total eradication today.
1/9
He was speaking after last week's emergency meeting in Geneva on the spread of polio which included representatives of the affected countries. 

"The international spread of polio to date in 2014 constitutes an 'extraordinary event' and a public health risk to other states for which a co-ordinated international response is essential," the WHO's International Health Regulations Emergency Committee said in statement.

Polio infected countries

  • Afghanistan
  • Cameroon
  • Equatorial Guinea
  • Ethiopia
  • Iraq
  • Israel
  • Nigeria
  • Pakistan
  • Somalia
  • Syria
  • Source: WHO
"If unchecked, this situation could result in failure to eradicate globally one of the world's most serious vaccine preventable diseases." 

The WHO also lists Afghanistan, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Iraq, Israel, Somalia and Nigeria as "posing an ongoing risk for new wild poliovirus exportations in 2014."

It is only the second time in the WHO's history it has made such a declaration, the first being during the swine flu pandemic of 2009, the BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva reports.
The polio virus is endemic in just three countries - Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nigeria. But attacks on vaccination campaigns in Pakistan in particular have allowed the virus to spread across borders.

Syria, which was polio-free for 14 years, was re-infected with the virus from Pakistan.
Refugees are still pouring out of Syria, to Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, and checking whether all of them have been vaccinated will be impossible, our correspondent says.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-27284389
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thai penis whitening trend raises eyebrows

Image copyright LELUXHOSPITAL Image caption Authorities warn the procedure could be quite painful A supposed trend of penis whitening has captivated Thailand in recent days and left it asking if the country's beauty industry is taking things too far. Skin whitening is nothing new in many Asian countries, where darker skin is often associated with outdoor labour, therefore, being poorer. But even so, when a clip of a clinic's latest intriguing procedure was posted online, it quickly went viral. Thailand's health ministry has since issued a warning over the procedure. The BBC Thai service spoke to one patient who had undergone the treatment, who told them: "I wanted to feel more confident in my swimming briefs". The 30-year-old said his first session of several was two months ago, and he had since seen a definite change in the shade. 'What for?' The original Facebook post from the clinic offering the treatment, which uses lasers to break do...
1 comment
Read more

Ancient Rakhine City of Mrauk-U Proposed for UNESCO World Heritage Site

The Irrawaddy YANGON—Myanmar’s Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture submitted the final draft of its nomination for Mrauk-U to become a World Heritage Site to UNESCO on Monday, four months after the ministry submitted the first draft of its nomination in September 2019. If the application succeeds, Mrauk-U will be the third place in Myanmar to be inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, after the ancient cities of Bagan and Pyu. Mrauk-U is located in northern Rakhine State, around 60 km from the state capital of Sittwe. The ancient city was the seat of Arakanese kings from the 1400s until the late 1700s. At the height of their power, they controlled an area covering large parts of eastern Bengal, modern-day Rakhine State and the western part of central Myanmar. Much of the city’s remains are well-preserved and some 380 historic temples are scattered between the lush hills of northern Rakhine. Mrauk-U Heritage Trust chairwoman Daw Khin Than told The Irrawaddy on Tue...
1 comment
Read more

Sri Bhaddanta Chandramani Mahathera

The Life Story of A Distinguished And Outstanding Bhikkhu The Most Venerable Saradawpharagree Sri Bhaddanta Chandramani Mahathera The Buddhist missionary Saradaw Ashin U Chandramani was endowed with great gifts and led a famous and long life. He was a very well known, distinguished and outstanding Bhikkhu Mahathera. While living in the Kushinagar Monastery, a place close to where the Lord Buddha had passed away to Nirvana, the Government of India had offered, and he had accepted, the highest, most honourable and respected title "Guru Guru MahaGuru". He became the first ever President of all Buddhists in India.A World Buddhist Conference took place in Kathmandu during the reign of King Mahindra of Nepal. The Conference was very well attended by over one hundred thousand Buddhists from various parts of the world and it was opened by King Mahindra himself. As requested by the King, Saradawpharagree blessed all the participants with the power of Triple Gems...
Post a Comment
Read more