The World Health Organization (WHO) unit for Europe has officially declared the outbreak of polio, a highly contagious and potentially deadly infectious disease detected in Ukraine in October 2021, over.
The agency approved the closure of the outbreak at its annual meeting on September 8, and announced the decision this Thursday, recalling that the outbreak was stopped thanks to “the comprehensive response of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine” and despite the war it went through. the country. to face from February of the following year.
“Stopping the spread of polio in the midst of a devastating war is a great achievement and a clear demonstration of the highest level of political commitment by the Government of Ukraine to the well-being of its population,” said the WHO Regional Director for Polio in Europe. , Hans Henri P. Kluge, in a statement released this Thursday.
“Despite the unprecedented challenges, the necessary measures taken by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine to prevent the spread of the outbreak within and beyond the borders of Ukraine are immensely commendable,” he added.
The decision to end the outbreak is based, according to the organization, on the recommendations of an evaluation carried out by partners of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, carried out last May, and on documents provided by Ukraine, in addition to vaccination efforts in countries hosting the majority of Ukrainian refugees.
The outbreak was first detected in a child in Ukraine in October 2021, following the importation of a poliovirus that emerged in Pakistan and was found in Tajikistan in early 2021.
A second Ukrainian child was paralyzed in December of that year, and 19 more close contacts were tested, showing they were sick but asymptomatic.
“The Ministry of Health of Ukraine declared the importation of this outbreak a local public health emergency and acted quickly, in close coordination with the global public health community,” said Ukrainian Health Minister Viktor Liashko, quoted in the same statement. .
“The outbreak is now over, but our work to prevent polio and other vaccine-preventable diseases in Ukraine continues despite all obstacles,” he said.
“As long as polio remains a global threat, Ukraine will remain vulnerable and the Ministry of Health is committed to strengthening surveillance of vaccine-preventable diseases and working to achieve and maintain high systematic vaccination coverage throughout the country to protect all children,” he concluded. .
Source: TSF
