Covid-19 may reverse Africa’s progress against polio – WHO
THE suspension of high-quality immunisation rounds for polio may risk new polio outbreaks due to low coverage, said the World Health Organization (WHO).
The Covid-19 outbreak has disrupted mass polio vaccination campaigns, in line with the global physical distancing regulations to limit the spread of Covid-19 transmissions.
This as WHO has intensified the fight against the pandemic by bringing the expertise in polio eradication that put Africa on the verge of being certified free of wild poliovirus.
“It is important that the support to Covid-19 response does not jeopardise the progress made in stopping all forms of polio transmission in the region. The fight against the pandemic should not come at the detriment of other health emergencies,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO regional director for Africa.
“In Africa, no one has the footprint of the polio programme, nor the expertise for mounting effective response campaigns. So with Covid19 threatening to overwhelm health systems, the extensive polio response network is once again lending crucial support as countries build up systems to contain Covid-19,” said Moeti.
More than 2 000 polio response experts from WHO, Unicef, Rotary, as well as STOP consultants from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are supporting the Covid-19 response in the African Region.
A quarter of WHO polio staff are dedicating more than 80% of their time towards Covid-19 efforts, with 65% anticipating a commitment of six months or more.
Alongside the support to the Covid-19 response, WHO polio staff
“In Africa, no one has the footprint of the polio programme Dr Matshidiso Moeti WHO Regional Director for Africa
are also maintaining critical functions and planning to resume mass polio immunisation campaigns once the situation permits.
A network of responders from the WHO Polio Eradication Programme and partner organisations are providing resources and skills to tackle Covid-19.
WHO said while testing was the core of any strategy to contain the virus, the region has had a relatively low number of tests performed.
About two million tests have been carried out in the WHO African Region, with an average test rate of 15.3 per 10 000 population since the outbreak started.
The WHO-co-ordinated polio laboratory network comprising 16 laboratories in 15 countries has dedicated 50% of its capacity to Covid-19 testing to boost diagnosis.
Hundreds of tests are carried out every day using polio testing machines in Algeria, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa.
“Contact tracing has been a central pillar of the WHO polio programme’s support to the Covid-19 response. Mobile phone applications originally developed for health workers to use in polio outbreak response and disease surveillance have been adapted by WHO to be used against Covid-19. In Zimbabwe, for example, over 100 disease surveillance officers are using these tools for case investigations and contact tracing in many provinces where Covid-19 has been confirmed,” said WHO.