POLIO [to 6 February 2016]
Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)

Polio this week as of 3 February 2016
:: There are ten weeks to go until the globally synchronized switch from the trivalent to bivalent oral polio vaccine, an important milestone in achieving a polio-free world. Read more here.
:: The WHO Executive Board met last week, recognising progress made in 2015 and renewing their commitment to polio eradication. Read more here.
:: For the first time in history, Africa has had 4-months without any wild or circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus cases, nor any environmental positive sample.

Selected content from country-level reports
Pakistan
:: One new wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) case was reported in the past week, with onset of paralysis on 31 December in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The total number of WPV1 cases for 2015 is now 54, compared to 305 reported for 2014 by this time last year. A total of 306 cases reported onset in Pakistan in 2014.
:: Four new WPV1 environmental positive samples were detected in the past week. Two were in Sindh province, in Hyderabad and Karachi Gulshan-e-Iqbal with collection dates of 5 January and 18 January respectively. The other two were isolated from Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and in Kabdullah, Balochistan, with collection dates of 11 January and 15 January respectively.
:: Sub-National Immunization Days (SNIDs) are planned in February using tOPV. National Immunization Days (NIDs) are planned in March using tOPV.

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WHO: Inactivated polio vaccine introduced in Iraq
Baghdad, 3 February 2016 – Immunization is one of the most important preventive health actions in children’s lives as it provides protection against the most dangerous childhood diseases.

Iraqi children are set to receive protection from 6 major childhood diseases after the country’s introduction of the inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) as part of its national immunization programme. It is given to children at the age of 2 months, 4 months and 6 months. The IPV is introduced as a combination vaccine that contains antigens against polio, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae type B (the bacteria that causes meningitis, pneumonia and otitis). Introduction of IPV is one of the key pillars in the global polio eradication effort, which seeks to completely eliminate this terrible disease. To date, the polio virus has been eliminated from every country except for some small areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan…

…”WHO acknowledges the Government of Iraq’s commitment to childhood vaccination and supports the introduction of IPV-containing vaccine as part of the Endgame Strategic Plan for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative,” said acting WHO Representative Altaf Musani.

“Polio eradication activities have pioneered multiple innovations and demonstrated that health service can, and must reach every child. The introduction of IPV into the Iraq public health structure is one step forward to ensure that Iraqi children are protected from polio, and also that they have equitable access to all health services,” added Peter Hawkins, UNICEF Country Representative in Iraq.

In May 2015, Iraq was removed from the list of infected countries, a landmark achieved through the continued support of WHO, UNICEF and multiple partners in Global Polio Eradication Initiative.