Angola: Ten polio cases so far this year

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Archive Number 20100616.2017
Published Date 16-JUN-2010
Subject PRO / POR> Poliomyelitis: Angola


POLIO: ANGOLA
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Infectious Diseases <http://www.isid.org>

Date: Wednesday / Mi?rcoles, June 16 / Junio 2010
De: Promed-Port <Promed-Port@promedmail.org>
Source: Angola Press [16/06/2010]
http://www.portalangop.co.ao/motix/...24/Pais-notifica-dez-casos-paralisia-infantil, 62b42a9a-52c8-4651-a76b-a6c026fe00ea.html

Country notifies ten cases of infantile paralysis


Luanda - Ten cases of poliomyelitis (infantile paralysis) were reported
January to date in this country, one of which registered on Tuesday
Lunda Sul province, by health authorities.

ANGOP, the head of the Expanded Programme on session
Immunization (EPI), Alda Morais, said cases were registered in
provinces of Lunda North (6), Lunda Sul, Bie, Bengo and Huambo with each.

Due to the emergence of cases in the province of Lunda-norte, authorities
Health carried out a cleanup operation on days 04, 05 and 06
June covering the Lunda South, especially the municipalities that make
border with Democratic Republic of Congo.

Acescentou that during the cleaning operation were vaccinated 193 000 550
children in the province of Lunda Norte and Lunda 83 000 987-south, where
Prior to immunize 176 000 66 000 188 and 505, respectively.

The second phase of the cleanup operation will take place on days 18, 19 and 20 this month.

However, the first phase of vaccination that happened on the 11th, 12th and
June 13, in 16 provinces of the country, according to provisional data, immunized
4 million 934 000 760 children, of a target population of 5 million 110 000
948 petizes.

According to Alda Morais, the second phase will take place next July and
cover the entire country, including the administration of Albendazole and Vitamin
A.

In 2009, the country recorded 29 cases of polio.

 

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Re: Angola: Ten polio cases so far this year

15 cases investigated in Angola

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http://www.portalangop.co.ao/motix/...tis,ac6fab47-0777-42f8-b846-97dcf47c2164.html

 

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Re: Angola: Ten polio cases so far this year

UN-backed polio immunization campaign kicks off in Angola

A child receiving a polio vaccination

6 August 2010 ? The United Nations Children?s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) are urging all national authorities and communities to get involved with a polio immunization campaign kicking off in Angola today which aims to reach nearly six million children.

Last month, WHO cautioned Koenraad Vanormelingen, UNICEF Representative in Angola.

Low routine immunization rates and the lack of adequate water and sanitation facilities across Angola and Africa in general make children especially vulnerable to polio and other infectious diseases, he said.

With Angola accounting for one quarter of the polio cases in Africa this year, UNICEF and WHO said that the anti-polio campaign launched today could help the country reverse the current situation.

?The polio eradication strategy works,? said Rui Gama Vaz, Acting WHO Representative. ?As we have seen across the globe, we need to ensure that vaccinators reach every child both during campaigns and through strong routine immunization.?

He pointed out that a similar strategy worked to stop polio in Angola in 2004.
The country?s leaders have stepped up their efforts to combat polio, a highly infectious and sometimes fatal disease which is often marked by acute flaccid paralysis among sufferers.

More than $9 million has been pooled from multiple sources for an emergency plan including nationwide campaigns and support for routine immunizations in 32 key municipalities to scale up coverage to at least 90 per cent.

Tens of thousands of volunteers, health workers, parents, social activists and soldiers, along with community, religious and traditional leaders, will go door-to-door in villages across Angola to hand deliver polio vaccines to every child under five.

In addition to the three-day campaign which started today, another round will be held from 10 to 12 September. According to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) ? spearheaded by UNICEF, WHO, national governments and other partners ? polio is only endemic in four countries: Nigeria, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=35547&Cr=polio&Cr1=

 

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Re: Angola: Ten polio cases so far this year

Angolan polio outbreak threatens efforts to eliminate disease from Africa, UN warns


1 October 2010 ? A polio immunization campaign targeting 5.6 million children was launched in Angola today as the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the southern African country was quickly becoming the greatest threat to continent-wide eradication efforts.

Only three African countries have recorded cases of the highly infectious and potentially lethal disease in the past four months ? Nigeria, Angola, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with the latter infected from across the Angolan boarder, WHO spokesman Rod Curtis told reporters in Geneva.

Areas in Angola that have previously been polio-free have been re-infected this year from an expanding outbreak, he said.

Over the next three days and again at the end of the month, WHO, the UN Children?s Fund (UNICEF) and Rotary International will be supporting tens of thousands of volunteers, health workers, parents, communities and traditional leaders as they go from house to house and village to village to ensure that every child under the age of 5 is reached with an oral polio vaccine.

These campaigns are not only critical to stopping polio in Angola, but also to stopping it in all of Africa, with Angola quickly becoming the greatest threat to eradication on the continent, Mr. Curtis said, stressing the need to close existing immunization gaps from previous campaigns in which up to 30 per cent of children were missed.

WHO believes the outbreak can be rapidly stopped, even by the end of the year, if these gaps are closed, he added.

Given the upsurge, now more than ever the key lies in the full mobilization and commitment of all sectors and all stakeholders at all levels, UNICEF spokesperson Marixie Mercado said. Particularly important is the engagement by local-level administrative leaders in planning and implementing the campaigns and mobilizing all levels of society to reach every child.

The whole world is watching this outbreak because the future of a polio-free Africa is at risk, she stressed.

Other than Nigeria, there has not been any case in West Africa since Mali, on 1 May, and the Horn of Africa became officially polio-free as of July, Mr. Curtis said.

Outside Africa, polio has been eradicated in most parts of the world, but remains endemic in Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. Last month WHO said great strides had been made towards eliminating polio in Nigeria, which has seen a 99 per cent drop in cases this year compared to 2009.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=36310&Cr=POLIO&Cr1