POLIO [to 16 April 2016]
Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)

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Polio this week as of 13 April 2016
:: The World Health Assembly (WHA) Report on Poliomyelitis has been published. The report summarises the status against the Polio Endgame Plan and Resolution WHA68.3, adopted by the WHA in May 2015 [see link below]
:: Canada has announced a contribution of $ 40 million Canadian Dollars to support the eradication of polio in Pakistan over the next three years.
:: The globally synchronized switch from the trivalent to bivalent oral polio vaccine, the first stage of objective 2 of the Polio Eradication and Endgame Strategic Plan 2013-2018 will start on 17 April 2016. Learn more about preparations for the switch here. Learn more about the rationale for the switch through this series of videos.
Selected Country Levels Updates [excerpted]
Pakistan
:: One new case of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) was reported in the last week, in Bannu district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with onset of paralysis on 22 March. The total number of WPV1 cases for 2016 is now 8, compared to 21 reported at the same date last year.

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UNICEF [to 16 April 2016]
http://www.unicef.org/media/media_89711.html
Polio-Free World in Sight as Largest Vaccine Rollout in History Kicks Off
GENEVA, 14 April 2016 – Next week marks the beginning of the largest and fastest globally coordinated rollout of a vaccine into routine immunization programs in history. Between 17 April and 1 May, 155 countries and territories around the world will stop using the trivalent oral polio vaccine (tOPV), which protects against all three strains of wild poliovirus, and replace it with bivalent OPV (bOPV), which protects against the remaining two wild polio strains, types 1 and 3. This effort will provide better protection for children against polio, particularly those most vulnerable to infection.

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Poliomyelitis: Report by the secretariat
69th World Health Assembly (May 2016)
A69/25
8 April 2016
[Initial paragraphs]
1. Strong progress continues to be made towards each of the four objectives of the Polio Eradication and Endgame Strategic Plan 2013–2018 (the Endgame Plan). With only Afghanistan and Pakistan remaining endemic for poliomyelitis, wild poliovirus transmission is at the lowest levels in history, with the fewest-ever reported cases from the fewest-ever affected countries.

2. The declaration of international spread of wild poliovirus as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern and the temporary recommendations promulgated under the International Health Regulations (2005) remain in effect. In September 2015, the Polio Oversight Board of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative reviewed progress and concluded that wild poliovirus transmission is more likely to be interrupted in 2016 than in 2015. This delay shifts the predicted date for certification of global polio eradication to 2019 and increases the cost of completing polio eradication by US$ 1500 million. In October 2015, WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on immunization confirmed its recommendation that the withdrawal of oral polio vaccines containing the type 2 component should occur during the period 17 April–1 May 2016 in all countries that are using trivalent oral polio vaccine through a globally-synchronized replacement of this vaccine by the bivalent oral polio vaccine. The Group also reaffirmed that, in preparation for this global event, it is crucial that countries meet established deadlines to identify facilities holding wild or vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2, destroy all type 2 poliovirus materials and, only where necessary, appropriately contain type 2 poliovirus in essential poliovirus facilities. The Executive Board at its 138th session noted an earlier version of this report.1 The text of the report has been updated and revised in light of the Board’s deliberations…

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Weekly Epidemiological Record (WER) 15 April 2016, vol. 91, 15 (pp. 193–208)
Contents
193 Polio surveillance: tracking progress towards eradication, worldwide, 2014–2015
203 Performance of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) surveillance and incidence of poliomyelitis, 2015