CBC NEWS - "THE CURRENT" - FEATURES POLIO REPORTING

In today's episode of the CBC's Radio program, "The Current", UNICEF's efforts to eradicate polio from Nigeria are highlighted. Some of the technology used was provided by HUM. Listen HERE: http://bit.ly/asokix

PART THREE

Polio Eradication - Bruce Aylward

We started this segment with a group of drummers in the Kano district in northern Nigeria. They're playing at the launch of a polio vaccination campaign. Health care workers have come from all over the area to reach this village. And their goal is to vaccinate every child under age of five. The Kano district has been called the epicentre of polio in Africa.

Polio has been eradicated in North America, Europe and parts of Asia. But in pockets of Africa and Asia, there are still outbreaks ... outbreaks that leave children paralyzed or even dead. For a long time, many people in this part of Nigeria didn't get their children vaccinated ... in part because of the widespread belief that the vaccinations are part of a western plot to sterilize girls or transmit HIV. It was only when local leaders embraced the vaccinations that things started to change.

Michael Bociurkiw traveled to Nigera on behalf of UNICEF to document stories from the vaccination campaign. His stories appear on UNICEF and HUM. We heard from Sarkin Yaki Alhaji Ahmed Aliyu Wada. He's a local traditional leader in the Kano district.

But despite his blunt words, health care workers still find people who won't allow their children to be vaccinated. Josephine Kamara works for UNICEF in Nigeria. Last week, she and a local government manager spent three hours negotiating with a defiant father. We heard from her.

The fact that it only takes one unvaccinated child to undermine an entire campaign means that the goal of eradicating polio is a challenging one. In fact, some argue it would be better to focus on managing the disease instead. But the World Health Organization is pushing ahead with its goal of eradicating polio within the next three years. And it is putting forward a new strategic plan, which will be discussed later this month at the World Health Assembly in Geneva.

Bruce Aylward is the Director of the W.H.O.'s Global Polio Eradication Program. He was in Geneva.

Polio Eradication - D.A. Henderson

As we mentioned earlier, not everyone believes that polio can be eradicated. D.A. Henderson is among the skeptics. He's a distinguished scholar at the Centre for Biosecurity. He led the global campaign that eradicated smallpox. He was in Baltimore, Maryland.

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