Health Interventions of Polio in Pakistan
Pakistan accounted for 90% of the world’s polio cases in 2014, making the eradication of Polio in this country a pressing issue (Williams, 2015). Many international health organizations have been partnering and mobilizing in an effort to spread awareness, encourage vaccination, and stop the spread of polio. They are putting programs and policies into place to address the threat of polio worldwide.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Institute of Health – Pakistan, and the Government of Pakistan have joined forces to create FELTP (Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program). This program works to train individuals to mobilize in the event of a health emergency, like in the case of a polio outbreak. They work to quickly detect outbreaks and use polio immunizations to help slow the spread of the disease from an endemic country to others that have already been cleared polio-free (CDC, 2014).
The CDC is also involved in N-STOP, which stands for the National Stop Transmission of Polio. This group sends staff volunteers to countries suffering from diseases like polio, in which they evaluate and plan vaccine campaigns that will keep the young children of these countries protected. This mission began in 1998 and has since sent members to countries all over the world (CDC, 2014). In relation to polio, these volunteers go to endemic countries to investigate and follow-up on polio cases and to educate the people about the important of getting the vaccine for their children.
Rotary International has been involved in polio eradication since 1985, the year in which they launched their Polio Plus program. Through this program, they have used fundraisers for raise millions of dollars for vaccine efforts and operational costs, so that volunteers can travel to these countries and monitor the vaccination process. They have 1.2 million members that work worldwide to end the fight of polio (Williams, 2015).
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Institute of Health – Pakistan, and the Government of Pakistan have joined forces to create FELTP (Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program). This program works to train individuals to mobilize in the event of a health emergency, like in the case of a polio outbreak. They work to quickly detect outbreaks and use polio immunizations to help slow the spread of the disease from an endemic country to others that have already been cleared polio-free (CDC, 2014).
The CDC is also involved in N-STOP, which stands for the National Stop Transmission of Polio. This group sends staff volunteers to countries suffering from diseases like polio, in which they evaluate and plan vaccine campaigns that will keep the young children of these countries protected. This mission began in 1998 and has since sent members to countries all over the world (CDC, 2014). In relation to polio, these volunteers go to endemic countries to investigate and follow-up on polio cases and to educate the people about the important of getting the vaccine for their children.
Rotary International has been involved in polio eradication since 1985, the year in which they launched their Polio Plus program. Through this program, they have used fundraisers for raise millions of dollars for vaccine efforts and operational costs, so that volunteers can travel to these countries and monitor the vaccination process. They have 1.2 million members that work worldwide to end the fight of polio (Williams, 2015).
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This video states that there are 4 countries still struggling with polio. Since the making of this video, only Afghanistan and Pakistan are still polio-active endemic countries. |
To date, the largest health intervention related to polio is the Global Polio Eradication Initiative or GPEI (Polio Global Eradication Initiative, n.d.). This initiative includes numerous organizations, including WHO, Rotary International, CDC, UNICEF, USAID, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and local governments within the endemic countries. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative was launched by WHO in 1988 and uses mass vaccination campaigns to educate and protect young children from this disease (CDC, 2014). Since the 1990s, this group has been organizing National Immunization Days, or NIDS. Because of the rural locations of many of these children, their access to vaccines may be rather difficult. These immunization days are to help vaccinate as many people as possible in a short period of time, even those who are hard to access or those who are apprehensive about giving their children the vaccine.
They use purple ink marks on children’s fingers to ensure that each child has been vaccinated, resulting in over 2.5 billion children vaccinated by members of GPEI (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, n.d.). Through this program, the spread of polio and recent outbreaks in at-risk countries are closely monitored. These organizations have partnered together to end the threat of polio for everyone and are working tirelessly to meet polio eradication milestones, such as clearing a country as polio-free. Since GPEI began, it has cut the number of polio endemic countries from 125 to just two (Afghanistan and Pakistan) and has reduced the number of polio cases by 99%, but they aren’t done yet (CDC, 2014). They will not stop until every child is ensured a polio-free world.
Based on our secondary research, our group has learned that the only way to fully eradicate this disease is through mass vaccination programs that must reach every vulnerable child in the countries that remain endemic. As long as there are still active polio cases, there is the potential for the disease to spread quickly to other countries, even those who have already been cleared polio-free.
We believe that the most effective initiative to address this problem is not only to hold mass immunizations, but to also educate people in these developing countries about the disease, current vaccine, and consequences of not vaccinating their children. Many of the current interventions have made remarkable progress towards reducing polio, but we are still struggling with that last one percent whose lives and well-being are still in question. We need to instill trust between the local citizens and health volunteers.
Because of the active war, many citizens don’t trust foreigners that are sent to help these people.
Our group believes that the solution to reaching and saving that last one percent is to continue mass vaccinations, educate locals so that they understand the importance of this immunization, and instill trust in the vaccine and the volunteers wielding it, because that could very likely be the key to worldwide eradication of polio.
*Info-graphic below is outdated yet relevant, only Afghanistan and Pakistan remain endemic
We believe that the most effective initiative to address this problem is not only to hold mass immunizations, but to also educate people in these developing countries about the disease, current vaccine, and consequences of not vaccinating their children. Many of the current interventions have made remarkable progress towards reducing polio, but we are still struggling with that last one percent whose lives and well-being are still in question. We need to instill trust between the local citizens and health volunteers.
Because of the active war, many citizens don’t trust foreigners that are sent to help these people.
Our group believes that the solution to reaching and saving that last one percent is to continue mass vaccinations, educate locals so that they understand the importance of this immunization, and instill trust in the vaccine and the volunteers wielding it, because that could very likely be the key to worldwide eradication of polio.
*Info-graphic below is outdated yet relevant, only Afghanistan and Pakistan remain endemic