Epidemic in Tajikistan Setback in Multi-billion Dollar Effort to Eradicate Polio

(HN, May 19, 2010) A polio outbreak in Tajikistan that has infected more than 100 children and claimed the lives of at least 12 has raised alarm bells among agencies fighting the desease.This Nigerian girl has polio. Nigeria is one of four polio endemic countries in the world.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more cases are expected in one of the poorest former Soviet republics. A mass polio immunization campaign targeting more than a million children under six is underway in Tajikistan, according to UNICEF. Three rounds of immunization are planned, and the country has received more than 4-million doses of vaccine from WHO and other international partners.

It is thought that the cases originated from nearby Afghanistan - one of four polio endemic countries in the world.

The cases in Tajikistan - as well as two newly-identified case in Russia - are the first to hit WHO's EURO region in more than a decade. Earlier today, Russia's Interfax News Agency reported that three Tajik children have been admitted to a Moscow hospital with suspected polio.

The outbreak comes as a surprise to experts as Tajikistan has relatively high routine immunization rates, despite widespread poverty and difficult-to-access mountain regions. Most of the cases occurred in the south-western border region with Uzbekistan and Afghanistan.

UNICEF Tajikistan Chief of Health, Ayadi Saparbekov, said that in order to halt the outbreak, vaccination must reach children in "remote, isolated and under-served communities."

WHO says there were about 1,600 cases of polio in 23 countries last year. Though significant progress has been made in eradicating the debilitating desease in Nigeria - another polion endemic country, along with Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. Nigeria has recorded only two cases this year, compared to more than 100 last year.

WHO is appealing to the donor community for a budget of $2.6-billion to combat polio between 2010-2012. Aside from WHO, the lead agencies in the fight against polio include UNICEF, the Gates Foundation and Rotary International.

- Staff, files, agencies