Dear Polio Eradication Warriors,
No new Wild Polio cases reported this week.
What is that Polio Picture? This picture shows the World Health Assembly’s recent Emergency Call To Action for Measles & Polio outbreak response.
A Win Against Polio is a Win for Global Health!
How Many Children have we saved from the paralysis of Polio?
That number has now reached 20 Million! That’s a number to celebrate and to share!
Last week, WHO and UNICEF launched an emergency call to action for measles and polio outbreak response, to protect children by vaccination. It is a global call to action, both for countries to re-boost their immunization systems in the wake of COVID-19 and for the international community to work together to ensure that the financial resources needed on an emergency basis are rapidly made available.
Some Numbers to Amaze – In just the past 20 years, in Africa alone, Nine billion doses of Oral Polio Vaccine were given, an average of 220 million children were immunized each year, two million vaccinators participated, and 1.8 million children were spared the paralysis of Polio! per Rachel Lonsdale of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Now that we are down to the Final Two Polio Endemic Countries – I will be listing Sixteen Reasons We need to End Polio in Pakistan (from Dawn.com): # 11. Vaccination campaigns can improve child health and the country’s health in general. Polio vaccination campaigns and surveillance networks monitor children for other health issues too, such as measles and Vitamin A deficiency so they can be treated on time.
Vaccine Derived Polio Cases – 655 Vaccine Derived Polio Cases reported in 2020: Afghanistan – 136 (0 in 2019), Angola – 3 (129 in 2019), Benin – 1 (8 in 2019), Burkina Faso – 40 (1 in 2019), Cameroon – 7 (0 in 2019), CAR – 3 (21 in 2019),Chad – 80 ((10 in 2019),China – 0 (1 In 2019), Congo – 1, Cote d’ Ivoire – 52 (0 in 2019),DRC – 60 (86 in 2019),Ethiopia – 21 (11 in 2019),Ghana – 11 (18 in 2019), Guinea – 29 (0 in 2019), Mali – 26, Malaysia – 1 (3 in 2019), Myanmar – 0 (6 in 2019), Niger – 8 (1 in 2019),Nigeria – 3 (18 in 2019),Pakistan – 64 (22 in 2019), Papua New Guinea – 0 (0 in 2019). Philippines – 1 (16 in 2019), Somalia – 27 (3 in 2019), South Sudan – 15 (0 in 2019), Sudan – 39, Togo – 9 (8 in 2019), Yemen – 16, Zambia – 0 (2 in 2019),
361 Vaccine Derived Polio cases were reported in 2019.
Quote of the Day
“Were there none who were discontented with what they have, the world would never reach anything better.” Florence Nightingale
The Final Two Polio Endemic Countries:
Pakistan
0 new Polio cases reported this week.
80 Wild Polio cases – 2020. The most recent case had an onset of paralysis on 10/08/20.
147 Wild Polio cases – 2019. One Polio-Positive Environmental Sample was reported this week in Pakistan.
Afghanistan
0 new Polio cases reported this past week.
53 Wild Polio cases – 2020. The most recent cases had an onset of paralysis on 9/13/20.
29 Wild Polio cases – 2019. No Polio-Positive Environmental Samples were reported this week in Afghanistan.
Our Goal is Global Polio Eradication!!
Terry Ziegler, Endowment/Major Gifts Adviser Rotary Region 26