Indonesia
and 10 other countries in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Southeast Asian
region on Thursday celebrated being certified polio-free. The region is
the fourth of six WHO regions worldwide to be certified, marking significant
progress toward global polio eradication, as eighty percent of the world’s
population is now living in certified polio-free regions.
The South-East Asia Regional Certification Commission for Polio
Eradication (SEA-RCCPE), an independent panel of 11 experts in public health,
epidemiology, virology, clinical medicine and related specialties, decided
that all 11 countries in the region met requirements for the polio-free
certification after holding a two-day meeting to review evidence from the
countries.
“This is a
momentous victory for the millions of health workers who have worked
with governments, non-governmental organizations, civil society and
international partners to eradicate polio from the region. It is
a sign of what we can bequeath [to] our children when we work together,”
regional director for the WHO’s Southeast Asian region, Poonam Khetrapal Singh,
said in a release made available to The
Jakarta Post on
Thursday.
“Thanks
to polio eradication, we now know where these children are who were
difficult to reach with vaccine. Now, the polio program has successfully reached
them with polio drops in every round,” she added.
The
certification of the region comes as countries prepare for the
introduction of inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) in routine immunization as part
of the eventual phasing out of oral polio vaccine (OPV). More than 120
countries currently use only OPV. These
countries will introduce doses of IPV by the end of 2015 as part of their
commitment to the global polio plan, which aims to ensure a polio-free world by
2018.
Despite the achievement, Khetrapal Singh also sounded a word
of caution about maintaining high vigilance against the importation of polio.
“Until
polio is globally eradicated, all countries are at risk and the region’s
polio-free status remains fragile,” said the
regional director, adding that high immunization coverage could prevent an
imported virus from finding an under-immunized, susceptible population.
note :
RED : PAST
BLUE : PRESENT
PURPLE block underline : FUTURE
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