New Zealand is contributing 2 million New Zealand dollars to the World Health Organization to help fight the polio outbreak in Papua New Guinea.
The work will help detect cases and boost routine immunization services to prevent future outbreaks of polio or any vaccine-preventable diseases.
“New Zealand has long supported the goal of a polio-free Pacific, and welcomes this opportunity to contribute to the work of our partners in the Papua New Guinea health system and the World Health Organization. We hope to see polio eliminated from all countries around the world,” says New Zealand High Commissioner Phillip Taula.
Papua New Guinea declared a public health emergency in June 2018 when polio re-emerged in the country after 18 polio-free years. To date, the country has confirmed 26 cases affecting nine provinces.
“We have made great progress, but the war against polio is not yet over”, says Dr Luo Dapeng, WHO Representative in Papua New Guinea. “We need to continue to work together to make sure every child is fully vaccinated, and we appreciate the support from all partners.”
Since the outbreak was detected, the country has conducted seven rounds of polio campaigns. More than 3.3 million children under 15 years old have received multiple doses of the polio vaccines in the last 10 months.
“I thank the Government of New Zealand for this contribution to WHO,” says Dr Takeshi Kasai, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific. “This contribution comes at a critical time: right now, we need to sustain our response operations until Papua New Guinea becomes polio-free again – this contribution will help us to do that.”
Currently, Papua New Guinea is in the middle of the eighth round of a mass vaccination campaign, integrating measles and rubella vaccines, with polio vaccination. To strengthen routine immunization, the Government declared 2019 as the Year of Immunization in Papua New Guinea.
New Zealand has committed an additional 8 million New Zealand dollars to support the full vaccination of children in Papua New Guinea, and is working with Australia, Gavi (the Vaccine Alliance), and the National Department of Health to advance this goal.
ADDITONAL INFORMATION to the EDITORS
Polio is a disease on the brink of eradication. In 1988, there were 350 000 cases of polio globally; in 2018, there were 33 cases. In the forefront of polio eradication worldwide is the Global Polio Eradication Initiative which is a public-private partnership led by national governments with five core partners - the World Health Organization, Rotary International, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), UNICEF and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
In Papua New Guinea, polio outbreak response is led by the National Department of Health, with technical support from WHO and UNICEF. Financial support is provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Rotary International, EasyJet, National Philanthropic Trust, UN Foundation and by the Governments of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Republic of Korea, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States of America (through USAID).