Polio Eradication Program and Strategies – One of the problems that are currently considered globally important is health problems. The health problems most feared by the global community are diseases that have been considered eradicated then reappear, such as Polio disease.
The polio disease first originated in Europe in the 18th century and spread to the northern part of the earth, the Asian region and then Africa.
Polio is a disease derived from poliovirus, which is a virus infection that is easily spread or contagious. Polio virus has 3 types of viruses, including: type 1, type 2, and type 3. These three types of Polio can cause paralysis of the central nervous system and meningitis of the lining of the brain.
Paralysis can occur in the arms and legs, but more often paralysis of the legs. Polio can also cause death because paralysis also occurs in the muscles, not least the respiratory muscles.
Type 1 of Polio is the easiest type to isolate followed by type 2 and 3. Polio type 1 is most commonly outbreaks, whereas, type 2 and 3 cause vaccine-related cases.
Polio sufferers are generally aged 0-3 years with symptoms of fever for 1-4 days, nervous system disorders, sore throat, headache, vomiting, and accompanied by a sudden paralysis of the arms or legs and stiffness of the neck and back after 24 hours.
Transmission of Polio can be from person to person with orofecal i.e. From food and beverages contaminated by polio virus from people infected with Polio.
Polio became the world’s first outbreak in 1988 of more than 125 countries on 5 continents and 350,000 children suffer from paralysis each year. The polio outbreak has caught the attention of global organizations that are starting to care about Polio, such as the World Health Organization, which declares an emergency response to polio spread. The WHO said there needed to be cross-sectoral support to eradicate the Polio outbreak at the time.
Polio Eradication Program
In 1998, the World Health Organization (WHO) started The Global Polio Eradication Initiative program, which is a polio eradication program from the earth.
The WHO targeted until 2005 the world has been already free of polio, but the reality is that to date there are still polio-endemic countries such as India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and countries in Africa such as Nigeria and Niger. In addition to the emergence of cases in countries that have previously been declared polio-free, including Indonesia.
At first, WHO was optimistic to be able to realize this target. This is because the polio virus does not infect any animals, except humans. Thus, the virus will be easier to control. This optimism is evidenced by the destruction of the wild polio virus in almost the entire hemisphere. Endemic polio remains in only five countries: India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Niger.
Polio Eradication Strategy
Based on statistical data, immunization is a preventive effort that proves to be very cost effective. Many deaths and defects are caused by diseases that can be prevented by immunization, with one in the form of polio vaccine.
The global eradication of polio will benefit financially. Based on the study, the short-term costs incurred to achieve the goal of eradication will not be much compared to the benefits that will be gained in the long term, such as the prevention of children who become disabled due to polio.
The world polio eradication target itself is one of the global commitments that must be achieved in 2018. One of the global agreements in order to achieve the goal of polio eradication, in the form of the implementation of polio endgame strategy consisting of the following series of activities:
- Implementation of herd immunity strengthening and regular intensification of immunization with sweeping and backlog fighting,
- Polio National Immunization Week (PIN) in March 2016,
- Replacement of trivalent drip polio vaccine (tOPV) to bivalent drip polio vaccine (bOPV) in April 2016
- Socialization of the implementation of injectable polio vaccine (IPV) into routine immunization of infants in July 2016.
In preparation for the replacement of all OPV, WHO in its position paper January 2014 ((Weekly Epidemiological Record, Febuary 28, 2014) recommends that all countries using OPV begin strengthening the IPV (inactivated Polio Vaccine) immunization system at least one dose into the routine program by the end of 2015. This is because the replacement of tOPV to bOPV is very important.
Related to the strategy of Replacing the trivalent drip polio vaccine (tOPV) into a bivalent drip polio vaccine (bOPV), it is important that we know, tOPV contains three serotypes (1,2,3) and its use has successfully in eradicating the polio virus type 2 where the last case was reported in 1999. Currently, more than 90% of cVDPV cases and an estimated 40% of VAPP cases are related to type 2 as a component of tOPV.
Administering at least one dose of IPV will reduce the risk of VAPP and cVDPV.
OPV will be replaced gradually, starting with eliminating serotype 2 from tOPV to bOPV containing only serotype 1 and 3 so that it can continue to protect against transmission of wild polio virus type 1 and 3. The use of OPV should be discontinued when all wild polio viruses have been eradicated.
