{"id":73283,"date":"2021-08-29T06:30:18","date_gmt":"2021-08-29T04:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/central-africa\/congo\/african-countries-commit-to-ending-all-forms-of-polio-at-regional-meeting\/"},"modified":"2021-08-29T06:30:18","modified_gmt":"2021-08-29T04:30:18","slug":"african-countries-commit-to-ending-all-forms-of-polio-at-regional-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/central-africa\/congo\/african-countries-commit-to-ending-all-forms-of-polio-at-regional-meeting\/","title":{"rendered":"African countries commit to ending all forms of polio at regional meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Governments from the World Health Organization (WHO) African Region have committed to ending all remaining forms of polio and presented a scorecard to track progress towards the eradication of the virus. The commitments came at a dedicated meeting on polio at the Seventy-first WHO Regional Committee for Africa.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

While the African Region was certified free of wild poliovirus one year ago following four years without a case, outbreaks of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV) continue to spread. cVDPVs occur in communities where not enough children have received the polio vaccine. Cases increased last year in part because of disruptions to polio vaccination campaigns caused by COVID-19. Since 2018, 23 countries in the region have experienced outbreaks and more than half of the global 1071 cVDPV cases were recorded in Africa.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cAs Chair of the African Union, I am determined to work with other countries to protect the gains of our monumental efforts against polio and finish the job against all forms of this disease in Africa. Only then, we will be able to say we delivered on our promise of a safer, healthier future for all our children,\u201d\u00a0said H.E. F\u00e9lix Tshisekedi, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

At the Regional Committee, countries discussed how they will begin implementing the new Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) 2022-2026 Strategy<\/a> that was launched in June to urgently stop the spread of cVDPVs. The tools and tactics outlined in the Strategy to stop outbreaks include:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n