Can Polio Be Eradicated?

Dr. Dobriansky has told us today why the USG remains so committed to polio eradication and the on-going, high level policy and diplomatic efforts to achieving this goal. We all believe eradication is feasible and we must fulfill our promise to the world’s children.

When we look at the challenges we face in reaching this goal, we should not for a second overlook the fact that we are on the verge of achieving a remarkable benchmark in humankind. The Polio Eradication Initiative has saved five million children from death or paralysis, and these children now face a productive life free from disability and disfigurement. The fact that we are on the verge of global polio eradication makes this effort one of the significant global health achievements we have made over the last 50 years. 

Global efforts to improve Child Survival now result in the saving of over 6 million children's lives each year. Immunization programs, including polio, are an essential component of this strategy and have prevented life-threatening childhood infections including measles, tetanus, pertussis, and diphtheria. This is a tremendous accomplishment, and one we must sustain.

USAID’s child survival program helped build the foundation for immunization that makes polio eradication possible. Although our immediate focus is on eradicating polio, our legacy will be bigger; it will be strengthened health and immunization systems throughout the world.

A Model to Follow

As Secretary Rice has said, "Transformational diplomacy is rooted in partnership, not paternalism, in doing things with other people, not for them. We seek to use America's diplomatic power to help foreign citizens to better their own lives, and to build their own nations and to transform their own futures.”
The polio effort is a great success that underlies the fundamental purpose of U.S Foreign Assistance reform and fosters transformational diplomacy. We are providing both the necessary tools and the right incentives for host governments to secure the conditions necessary for their citizens to achieve their full human potential. 

We have focused resources where they will make a sustainable impact. We have strengthened disease surveillance and integrated reporting systems in the countries where we work. Our provision of essential communication equipment to laboratories and field staff is building an effective system of rapid cases detection, investigation, and response. Our emphasis on improving community mobilization, convincing resistant caretakers who are wary of the vaccine, and improving the inter-personal skills of vaccinators is proving to be key to reaching the remaining pockets of polio transmission.

Partnership

The Polio Initiative is also the largest public-private partnership implementing programs today, drawing on the combined resources and skills of governments, communities, non-governmental and faith-based groups, international organizations, and multilateral, bilateral, and private donors. This type of partnership lies at the heart of the U.S. Government’s global health strategy. In particular, I want to acknowledge the dedication of Rotary International, which made polio eradication a “corporate cause” and raised over $600 million from their members to fight this disease in over 100 countries.

Coordinated partnerships of international donor resources are not only essential, they are the gold standard by which we should measure our commitment to alleviating poverty and human suffering. By sharing the united goal of polio eradication, we bring ourselves closer to achieving health for all.

In the end, it turns out to be very true that what we can accomplish together is considerably greater than the sum total of what we can all do as individual countries. And this matters, because added effectiveness translates into less death and suffering, and a far healthier global community – goals that motivate us all.

Complexity of Polio Campaigns

I want to take a minute a paint a picture for you of how complicated the work is. A small immunization activity in India targeting 4.2 million children under age 5 uses 280,000 vials of vaccine; and covers 50,000 square miles, and they do it in 3 days. The planning, management, and detailed execution of these plans is an enormous effort, and the results are verified through independent monitors and international observers. Vaccinators need to reach the doorstep of every house, and families need to accept willingly the vaccine. Likewise, high quality surveillance requires rapid detection and reporting of suspected cases in every corner of the globe. Laboratory samples are taken and transported to an accredited lab. Genetic sequencing is done on the virus to determine its point of origin. Based on the lab findings, quality of immunization campaigns and level of routine immunization decisions, are made as to how often and how extensive mass immunization campaigns should be in countries, or between countries as needed. Population movements, conflicts, and natural disasters displace people – and when people move, so does the virus.

USAID’s Role

USAID has committed more than $312 million in the fight against polio since 1996. Agency funding for polio has about $32 million for several years, focused at the international, regional, and country levels in Africa, South Asia, and the Near East.

In close collaboration with host countries, we fund state-of-the-art polio activities through grants to WHO, UNICEF, a large consortium of NGOs, specialized technical assistance in Immunization, and approved mission bilateral projects.

USAID provides technical and financial support to countries to help implement the highest quality, well publicized, immunization campaigns, and certification-standard surveillance. Monitoring quality and operations of all activities is critical to demonstrate to the world that the virus is disappearing.

Conclusion

Ridding polio from the last virus reservoirs is proving to be harder than expected, more costly than expected, and taking longer than expected, but it is well worth the effort.

As others have said, the cost in the end of failing to eradicate, of simply trying to contain, is actually much higher than the costs associated with pushing resolutely forward to eradicate this deadly disease. Working together, our gift to future generations will be a world without polio. We remain committed to eradicating polio as soon as possible.