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U.S. - Russia Collaboration to End Polio

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 26, 2011
Public Information: 202-712-4810
www.usaid.gov

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• In January 2011, under the auspices of the Health Working Group for the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission, the U.S. and Russia signed a statement of intent to cooperate for the global eradication of polio.
• Presidents Obama and Medvedev recognize the collaborative efforts already underway between the United States and Russia to eradicate polio globally, and pledge to continue that cooperative until the eradication objective is finally achieved.
• Areas of collaboration include providing technical assistance for polio surveillance; participating in and monitoring of polio immunization campaigns; providing technical assistance on polio clinical diagnoses, case management and rehabilitation; and advocacy and resource mobilization.
• The first activities to implement the protocol will be a joint immunization monitoring missions planned for Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan May 23-27, 2011. These missions are being planned in cooperation with the Ministries of Health of the two countries and with the World Health Organization.
• The goal of joint immunization and monitoring missions is to identify strengths and gaps in current immunization campaigns, provide suggestions for improvement, and identify threats to regional spread of the disease or certification.
• The U.S. and Russia have a rich tradition of cooperation in the fields of health and science, including a strong focus on polio prevention and treatment. From 1956-1960 Dr. Albert Sabin worked with Russian Deputy Minister of Health Dr. Viktor Zhdanov and leading polio expert, Dr. Mikhail Chumakov of Moscow's Institute for the Study of Polio to refine Sabin's vaccine and develop it into a useful form that could be taken orally.
• The U.S. is the largest bilateral donor to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. Polio eradication is part of USIAD's more comprehensive effort to reduce deaths due to vaccine-preventable diseases.

FACTS ON POLIO

• Polio is a highly infectious disease that mainly affects children under the age of five. One in 200 infections leads to paralysis and among those paralyzed, 5-10% die.
• This deadly disease is easily preventable with access to vaccines currently available.
• The Global Polio Eradication Initiative began in 1988 and has seen a 99 percent reduction in polio. Two of the four currently endemic countries saw significant improvement in 2010.
• Polio causes high disability but contributes very little to global mortality rates. In 2010 only 10 percent of the 1,300 diagnosed cases resulted in death worldwide. If polio eradication fails, the number of cases will return to pre-eradication levels of 350,000 permanently disabled children per year.
• In recent years a sporadic resurgence in the disease has occurred, including new outbreaks in Central Asia and several new reported cases in Russia.
• As long as polio remains in one country - all countries are at risk. There remains a $665 million funding gap for critical polio activities planned for 2011 - 2012.

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