How Polio was eradicated from Africa

‘Elimination of polio virus is testimony that vaccines work’

Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE | Dr. Alfred Driwale, the programme manager of the Uganda National Expanded Programme on Immunization in the Ministry of Health was probably one of the happiest people on Aug. 25 when the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Africa region free from the wild poliovirus.

“The elimination of the wild poliovirus and eradication of small pox is testimony that vaccines work,” he told The Independent on Aug.27.

Dr. Driwale who has worked across the country’s health system over the last 20 years and is now the Assistant Commissioner for Vaccines and Immunization at the Ministry of Health told The Independent that over the last two decades, deaths and dehumanizing disabilities caused by diseases like polio, leprosy and tuberculosis had reduced significantly in Uganda thanks to the government’s robust immunization programme.

He said the UN health agency’s recent announcement has only gone far to consolidate the country’s prime position since Uganda was the first country in eastern Africa to be declared free from the indigenous strain of the poliovirus. Polio was an endemic disease to Uganda; however, the strain was last reported in 1996 and four years later, the country was declared free from polio.

Dr. Driwale, however, told The Independent that although Uganda had been certified by the World Health Organization as “polio-free” in 2010, its position had remained precarious thanks to the high risk of importation of the virus into the country.

In 2009, for instance, an imported case of polio was reported in Amuru in northern Uganda near the South Sudan border while in 2010, another case was found in the eastern Uganda district of Bugiri, reportedly from Kenya.

“The risk of importation of polio into Uganda put our status at risk even with the country’s robust immunization programme,” he told The Independent.

Dr. Driwale said it is for this reason that the government has been carrying out reactive immunization campaigns since then. The last of such mass immunization campaigns was done last year when a vaccine-derived poliovirus was reported in Somalia.

“We have every reason to be happy as a country because elimination of the wild poliovirus did not come by accident,” he said, “But surveillance activities will continue across the country.”

Momentous milestone

On Aug. 25, the independent Africa Regional Certification Commission (ARCC) for Polio Eradication officially declared the Africa region free of wild poliovirus— the second dehumanizing virus to be eradicated from the continent since smallpox was stamped out 40 years ago.

Polio or poliomyelitis, mainly affects children aged below five years. Its symptoms include; fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness of the neck and pain in the limbs. It also attacks the nervous system and can cause total paralysis in a matter of hours.  Health experts say the virus spreads from person to person, usually through contaminated water.

“Today is a historic day for Africa; the ARCC is pleased to announce that the region has successfully met the certification criteria for wild polio eradication, with no cases of the wild poliovirus reported in the region for four years,” said Professor Rose Gana Fomban Leke, the head of ARCC.

“This is a momentous milestone for Africa. Now future generations of African children can live free of wild polio,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organization regional director for Africa.

“This historic achievement was only possible thanks to the leadership and commitment of governments, communities, global polio eradication partners and philanthropists. I pay special tribute to the frontline health workers and vaccinators, some of whom lost their lives, for this noble cause.”