Massive emerging global health crisis

IT was saddening to hear that 17 children in Syria were recently paralysed by polio, following an outbreak in the country this month.

It is the first re-emergence of polio in the war-torn country since 2014, and is a frustrating and devastating setback.

This outbreak highlights how polio and complacency can never co-exist. Syria is the latest example of a sporadic outbreak, following a similar one in Nigeria in 2016.

While the world is hopefully in the final stages of polio eradication, the end game remains the most difficult and complex part of the process.

Polio is an extremely stubborn and deadly virus. I understand more than most the devastating effects of polio; the legacy lives on in the 120,000 polio survivors in the UK, living with the late effects of Polio, and a debilitating new neurological condition, Post Polio Syndrome (PPS).

We fully support Rotary International’s One Last Push eradication campaign and dream of a polio-free world. But it is worth considering that up to 40,000,000 people worldwide may be left living with PPS for many generations to come. That represents a massive emerging global health crisis on an unparalleled scale, and one that nations need to collectively address with significant investment and welldefined care pathways.

Ted Hill MBE CEO, The British Polio Fellowship