Polio Must Be Defeated "Once and For All" (PERSPECTIVE)

By Angelique Kidjo

Parts of Africa continue to struggle to eliminate polio, a devastating disease that threatens our children with lifelong paralysis and even death.

Nigeria, which borders my home country of Benin, is one of the last places in the world where the wild poliovirus has never been stopped. Recently, polio also reemerged in several countries across West Africa, including Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Guinea and Niger.

I have participated in immunization campaigns across Africa and have witnessed firsthand the lifesaving power of vaccines. This is why it is so heartbreaking for me to see African children continue to be paralyzed from polio, when an effective and affordable vaccine is available.

But there are signs of hope that defeating polio in Africa is within reach. In September, health workers spread out across several West African countries to vaccinate tens of millions of children. In Côte d’Ivoire, where post-election violence prohibited polio vaccinators from reaching children, improved security has enabled vaccinators to reach previously inaccessible areas. 

There is now an incredible opportunity for countries across Africa to be part of a historic achievement. In 1988, when Rotary and its partners launched the global effort to end polio, the disease affected 350,000 people worldwide every year. Today, with the coordinated and dedicated effort of supporters around the world, polio cases have plummeted by 99%, with fewer than 1,400 polio cases last year. Polio will be only the second human disease in history, after smallpox, to be eliminated from the face of the Earth.

But the fight is not yet over. Polio knows no borders; and the disease continues to spread from countries like Chad and Nigeria into neighboring countries, proving that as long as there is polio anywhere, children everywhere remain at risk.

Polio eradication work has already yielded other significant benefits across Africa when combined with other key health interventions, such as the mass distribution of measles vaccines and Vitamin A. It’s important that we build on that to do even more to strengthen routine immunization and create strong health systems. By delivering on the promise of a polio-free world, we will infuse public health in Africa with a new energy, attract more resources and good people, and create the political will necessary to tackle the many other health priorities facing our families.

For these reasons, it is critical that we remain vigilant and strengthen our efforts to protect our children against polio. While recent commitments from national leaders are promising, we are at a crossroads – we can sit idly by, or we can make sure that the eradication initiative receives the effort, attention and resources needed to ensure that no child ever again has to suffer from this crippling disease.

We cannot do this alone. An unprecedented global alliance, including Rotary International, UNICEF, WHO and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, along with many national governments, remains committed to the global eradication of polio. Now is the time for all current and potential donors to ramp up their support to help us reach our goal.

We all must do our part. Parents, please make sure your children receive the polio vaccine during the upcoming immunization campaigns. Urge your friends, neighbors and family members to do the same.

We as Africans must seize this opportunity to defeat polio once and for all. We are truly “this close” to a polio-free world.  Together, we can end polio now.

Angelique Kidjo is a UNICEF Ambassador and participant in Rotary International’s “This Close to ending polio” awareness campaign. This commentary first appeared on StarAfrica.com