Polio Eradication Initiative: Program Overview FY 2004
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Source: PAHO/Waak, A. |
USAID joined the global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1996 after supporting the successful eradication program in the Americas. Since then, USAID has contributed nearly $360 million to support this massive public health initiative. USAID continues to be a major partner in the global effort to eradicate polio and achieve a polio-free world.
As of February 2005, 1,250 confirmed cases of polio in 17 countries had been reported for 2004, compared with 784 cases in 13 countries in 2003 (see figure 8). Intensified eradication activities made noticeable progress in Asia, with immunization campaigns in Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan reducing the number of polio cases in those countries to 179 from 266 in 2003. In sub-Saharan Africa, however, a one-year suspension of immunizations in Kano state, Nigeria, and low routine immunization coverage in several neighboring countries resulted in increased numbers of polio cases. Reported polio cases in Niger and Nigeria more than doubled, from 327 in 2003 to 788 in 2004, and there were 157 cases in Burkina Faso, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, and Sudan, four countries where endemic wild poliovirus transmission was re-established. By the end of 2004, the Central African Republic had also reported cases.
USAID-supported polio campaigns immunized more than 300 million children under age 5 in Africa and Asia. In USAID-assisted countries in Asia, these efforts resulted in a 50 percent reduction in confirmed polio cases. In Africa, however, a one-year suspension of polio immunizations in part of Nigeria and low routine immunization coverage in neighboring countries led to increases of about 50 percent in confirmed polio cases. |
Strategy FY 2004
Interventions and Achievements FY 2004
Lessons Learned FY 2004
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