The World Health Organization (WHO) has documented this alarming reappearance of polio in Papua New Guinea. This country had been sitting pretty, having declared itself polio-free since 2000. Health officials were blindsided when routine screenings in Lae, a coastal city in the country’s northeast, revealed the extent of the outbreak. They identified a very transmissible type of poliovirus in these same two healthy children. That’s because the strain confirmed in Mali has a genetic connection to one currently circulating in Indonesia.
Polio most often affects children younger than five years old. The disease has, in recent years, enjoyed a resurgence across the globe, despite our remarkable steps forward to wipe it out. According to WHO figures, less than 50% of Papua New Guinea’s population is vaccinated against poliovirus. This sobering reality underscores the need for robust prevention measures to avert more frequent and severe outbreaks. In fact, most people infected with polio don’t experience any symptoms. The very few—one in a thousand to one in a hundred at most—who do develop them are subject to grievous complications that can lead to paraplegia.
Under Health Minister Elias Kapavore, PNG has embarked on an ambitious campaign to vaccinate all children aged ten and under. The ultimate aim is to get 3.5 million of these kids. Kapavore was adamant about the critical nature of the work. In addition, he is personally committed to reaching 100% polio immunization coverage by the end of this year.
“In order to safeguard our children and future generations, we have to do something about it and we have to do it immediately,” said Sevil Huseynova, highlighting the critical nature of the ongoing vaccination efforts.
Papua New Guinea just had its most recent large scale polio outbreak in 2018. Fortunately, public health officials quickly contained it still within that same year. The recent finding of poliovirus samples is a cause for alarm. Global health leaders are alarmed by an uptick in cases outside of Africa. Such conditions are at the heart of the resurgence of polio, with Pakistan having 74 reported cases last year and Afghanistan only 24.
Though it might sound strange today, in 1952 there was no cure for polio. As a result, getting vaccinated is the best possible defense against this disease. With the WHO’s ongoing commitment to eradicating polio worldwide, Papua New Guinea’s renewed efforts serve as a crucial reminder of the importance of vaccination and public health initiatives.
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