World Health Summit: Polio Eradication

At the World Health Summit in Berlin recently, world leaders announced USD 2.6 billion in funding for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative's (GPEI) 2022–2026 Strategy to eradicate polio.

About polio:

• The neurological system is harmed by the debilitating and potentially fatal viral infection known as polio.
• There are three separate wild poliovirus strains that are each unique and immunologically diverse:
• Type 1 wild poliovirus (WPV1)
• Type 2 wild poliovirus (WPV2)
• Type 3 wild poliovirus (WPV3)
• All three strains exhibit the same symptoms, which include irreversible paralysis or even death. These three strains are distinct viruses that must each be eliminated separately due to genetic and virological variations.

Spread:

• The virus is primarily spread from person to person by the fecal-oral route or, less frequently, by shared vehicles (for example, through contaminated water or food).
• Children under the age of five are primarily affected. The virus grows in the colon and then spreads to the nervous system, where it can paralyze a person.
• Most persons with polio experience no symptoms at all. Some patients only experience minor symptoms like fever, fatigue, nausea, headaches, arm, and leg discomfort, etc.
• Polio infection can occasionally result in a lifelong loss of muscular function (paralysis).
• If the respiratory muscles are paralyzed or the brain becomes infected, polio can be fatal.

Treatment and Prevention

• Although there is no treatment for it, vaccinations can help prevent it.

Vaccines:

• Oral polio vaccine (OPV): This vaccine is administered orally as a birth dose for institutional deliveries, followed by three primary doses at six, ten, and fourteen weeks and one booster dose at sixteen to twenty-four months of age.
• As part of the Universal Immunization Program, the injectable polio vaccine (IPV) is administered as an additional dosage alongside the third dose of DPT (diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus) (UIP).

Polio in India:

• After three years of no incidents, India was certified as polio-free by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2014.
• This accomplishment was made possible by the successful Pulse Polio Campaign, in which polio drops were given to all kids.
• The country's final wild poliovirus case was discovered on January 13, 2011.

Steps were taken to end the polio virus:

International: The Global Polio Eradication Initiative

• The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), national governments, and WHO began it in 1988. Currently, polio has been officially eradicated in 80 percent of the world's population.
• Through the systemic injection of vitamin A during polio vaccine campaigns, an estimated 1.5 million childhood fatalities have been avoided.
• World Polio Day is marked annually on October 24 to encourage nations to continue their vigilance in the fight against the disease.

Pulse Polio Programme in India:

• Initially, the goal was to completely cover the population with the oral polio vaccine.
• Mission Intensification Indradhanush 2.0 was a national immunization campaign to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Pulse polio program (2019-20).

Universal Immunization Programme (UIP)

It was introduced in 1985 as the "Expanded Programme of Immunization" (EPI). The Program's goals are as follows:

• the rapid expansion of vaccination coverage
• enhancing the standard of services
• establishing a trustworthy cold chain system up to the level of the medical facility
• establishing a district-based performance monitoring system
• achieving vaccine production self-sufficiency.