UAE leads the charge against polio

The UAE's commitment towards eradicating polio in two of the three endemic countries in the world, Pakistan and Afghanistan, is bringing the world closer towards eradicating the deadly virus off the face of the earth. This will be the second time in the history of the world that a human disease will be eradicated.
In an exclusive interview with Khaleej Times, Christopher Maher, manager working on Polio Eradication and Emergency Support within the World Health Organisation (WHO), said that the UAE has been a big supporter of polio eradication. Since 2011, the UAE has committed a total of $137 million for the initiative.
Since then and committing itself to the cause until 2018, the UAE has committed an additional $120 million towards polio eradication efforts.
The UAE has also used its unique relationship with the key countries in the Muslim world, Pakistan in particular, to ensure that children in remote regions are vaccinated against the virus.
With this week being marked as the World Immunisation Week, Chris highlighted the important role that vaccination has played in controlling the spread of the virus.
"Vaccination against polio is most often delivered orally in the form of drops and in 90 per cent of the cases, the child develops immunity," said Chris. However, exceptions are always there, he added.
The vaccine is given to the children, under the age of five in multiple doses, to boost immunity and is safe, he said. The polio drops given to all children are free of cost.
However, the levels of transmission of the virus are now the lowest in history.
"Karachi has a big population and historically it is an important city for polio transmission but it has been good for the past 12 months," said Chris.
Other historic strategic reservoir areas in Pakistan include the Peshawar valley, Lahore, Quetta (Pishin) and northern Sindh, and in Afghanistan, Kandahar and Helmand.
But every year the virus moves with mobile populations within both countries and across the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. This ongoing movement makes eradicating the polio virus difficult as it's able to hide in unvaccinated children and re-emerge with a vengeance.
Beyond Borders
In response, Pakistan and Afghanistan have adopted new, innovative approaches to contain the virus. Since June 2015, the countries have coordinated major programme activities. This includes synchronising immunisation campaign and coordinating eradication efforts to make sure that no child on either side of the border falls through the cracks. The two country programmes regularly meet face-to-face to resolve challenges and develop plans to address the remaining hurdles.
This cooperative approach across healthcare and politics is making real progress, yielding significant improvements in the programme's quality in key polio 'corridors'.
Both international cooperation and innovation are crucial in the fight to eradicate polio, and Afghanistan and Pakistan's approaches show that the borders are not a barrier for polio immunisation or teamwork, said Chris.
The goal of the Global Polio Eradication (GPEI) Initiative, which is supported by five key partners including WHO, UNICEF, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Rotary International, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is to complete the eradication and containment of all polio viruses, so that no child suffers from paralytic poliomyelitis, ever again.
While the world eradicated the deadly smallpox virus, the fight to end the crippling disease of polio is ongoing. "We are learning every day and while we cannot predict when we can get rid of this virus," said Chris, "we believe that we are close to ending polio forever."
"The fight has been going on for the past 29 years and we hope it can come to an end in the 30^th year."
However, another one and a half billion dollars is needed to complete the job of eradicating polio.
"If we can fill this funding gap, we hope that we can certify the eradication of polio three years after the last case," said Chris.
asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com