Attachments
Headlines
- Kingdom of Saudi Arabia pledges US$ 500 million to protect children from polio. New commitment to help vaccinate 370 million children against polio every year, preventing paralysis and even death, and strengthen health systems to achieve and sustain a polio-free world. Read more.
- On 28 April, the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and partners convened to celebrate the IsDB’s Golden Jubilee in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Over the last 50 years, the IsDB has been a leading partner in advancing health and development around the world, including through the polio eradication effort. Since 2013, the IsDB has provided US$ 587 million to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) and has been a key partner in promoting eradication and access to life-saving vaccines. To date, the IsDB is one of the largest providers of funding to the national polio eradication program in Pakistan – one of the last two countries where wild poliovirus remains endemic. Read more…
- In 2023, the GPEI Strategy Committee in 2023 commissioned an external evaluation of the 2016 global withdrawal of Sabin poliovirus type 2 (OPV2) and switch from trivalent oral polio vaccine (tOPV) to bivalent OPV (bOPV). The evaluation aims to generate critical lessons learnt from the OPV2 withdrawal, in order to guide the direction of the GPEI (including future OPV withdrawal efforts) and secure a lasting world free of all polioviruses. To ensure the evaluation is as relevant and useful as possible, and to provide the public health community and other interested stakeholders the opportunity to contribute, the lessons learned team is soliciting thoughts, comments and suggestions on the public draft for consultation. Interested stakeholders and members of the public health community are invited to share any contributions, ideas or suggestions by Friday 10 May 2024, to: switch@who.int. Final publication of the evaluation is anticipated shortly after this public consultation. Public draft for consultation/annexes available here.
- On 25 April, the President of the Republic of Madagascar, Andry Rajoelina, and the First Lady, Mialy Rajoelina, received a high-level delegation from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) in Ambohitsorohitra palace in the capital, Antananarivo. The delegation included the Regional Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the President of the Polio Oversight Board, Dr Chris Elias, the Regional Director of UNICEF for Eastern and Southern Africa, Etleva Kadilli, and the Director of Health Systems Strengthening and Immunization from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, Alex de Jonquieres. To read more about the meeting, a press release is available here in French.
Summary of new poliovirus this week
- Afghanistan: two WPV1-positive environmental samples
- Niger: one cVDPV2-positive environmental sample
- Nigeria: two cVDPV2 cases
- Yemen: three cVDPV2 cases