Yesterday, at a celebration held under the auspices of and attended by H.E Mrs Suzanne Mubarak, the First Lady of Egypt, the World Health Organization officially declared Egypt a polio-free country almost 2 years after the last confirmed polio case was detected in Assiut in May 2004.
Mrs Mubarak hailed the achievement as a landmark in Egypt’s history and an important milestone in its own record of achievements. The First Lady praised the great efforts over many years of thousands of health workers and their leaders in the Ministry of Health at all levels. She also praised the efforts of the international and national nongovernmental organizations that worked hand in hand with Egypt to achieve this success.
The successful eradication of polio from Egypt was declared in the opening speech that Mrs Mubarak delivered on Wednesday 8 March in the evening at its Regional Office, during the celebration organized by the World Health Organization. This success means that Egypt is no longer considered a polio endemic country.
In the celebration attended by a large number of senior officials, public figures, media personnel, representatives of national, regional and international organizations and ambassadors of countries that have cooperated with Egypt in the drive to eradicate polio, Dr Hussein A. Gezairy, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, congratulated Egypt and H E Mrs Suzanne Mubarak on this great achievement, confirming that her personal dedication and strong support were of great impact and had played a major role in achieving a polio-free Egypt. Dr Gezairy said that Egypt’s fight against polio was long and harsh and that stopping circulation of the virus in Egypt had proved a real challenge and was a massive contribution to the Global Programme for Polio Eradication.
In his opening speech, Dr Hatem Algabali, Minister of Health and Population confirmed that polio eradication was a national goal that had required orchestrated efforts from all sectors and partners, requiring innovative and untraditional strategies and involving all forces of society. This resulted in the decrease of confirmed polio cases to the point when the last case was detected in May 2004. Highlighting the magnitude of efforts exerted to reach the eradication goal, Dr Algabali pointed out that Egypt had invested more than 300 million pounds in polio activities and that more than 100 000 health workers and nurses, and 10 000 volunteers had participated in the polio immunization campaigns. He thanked WHO and all partners for their effective role in eradicating polio from Egypt.
During her address, Dr Erma Manoncourt, UNICEF Representative in Egypt, highlighted Egypt’s success in eradicating polio, confirming that such an achievement would not only benefit the children of Egypt but also the children of the whole world. She said that the Ministry of Health had every reason to be proud of their staff and their sincere efforts in reaching such a notable achievement. She praised the Egyptian experience as an example to be followed by other countries where the circulation of polio virus still poses a threat. Dr Manoncourt expressed gratitude for the partnership that was inspired by the dedication and commitment of Mrs Mubarak.
Dr Orshek Balken, Representative of Rotary International pointed out that Rotary International had been an active member of the international alliance for polio eradication since the 1980s. The financial contribution of Rotary International amounted to 600 million dollars, in addition to its advocacy role in urging governments to sponsor the initiative and support polio eradication activities.
Dr Balken confirmed that the interagency committee of partners in Egypt would continue working together to sustain the achievement. In this respect, he stressed the importance of continuing immunization activities until the whole world is declared poliofree.
The history of polio in Egypt includes records going back thousands of years, the first record of a case being depicted more than 3000 years ago on a Pharaonic stela. Until the early 1980s, polio was highly endemic in Egypt, with an estimated 10 000 to 15 000 cases occurring every year. During the past few decades, the Egyptian government has exerted many efforts to control this disabling disease. However, poor environmental sanitation in some areas and the very high population density allowed the virus to persist in Egypt beyond the experience of other countries.
1988 was a turning point in the history of the fight against polio in Egypt. In this year Egypt endorsed the global polio eradication initiative. Subsequently, polio eradication activities rapidly intensified. Including, in addition to routine immunization, the organization of annual national immunization days targeting all children under 5 years and the establishment of a surveillance system to detect and investigate all cases with paralysis. The most effective vaccination strategies were adopted to suit the geographic and environmental conditions in Egypt, such as delivering immunization on a house –to– house basis. These immunization activities were accompanied by an effective media strategy to increase public awareness and empower the civil society, while seeking the help of religious leaders and celebrities.
Through tens of thousands of health workers, nurses and volunteers, it was possible to reach out to all villages, satellites areas, slum areas, remote areas and major cities, resulting in an immunization rate exceeding 95% and reaching all children under 5 years. Parents’ health awareness and their collaboration with immunization teams, as well as their keenness to immunize their children, played an essential role in making the campaigns a success.
Many international partners worked closely with the Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population. Among these were the World Health Organization, UNICEF, Rotary International, USAID, CDC Atlanta, the Japanese Government and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The Technical Advisory Group for Polio Eradication in Egypt provided guidance and strategic direction to the programme. They have helped to make the Egyptian experience with polio an exemplary role model for those countries that are still polio– endemic, such as Pakistan and Afghanistan, and those where the poliovirus has spread after being re-introduced namely, Yemen, Sudan and Somalia. Meanwhile, it is of vital importance to maintain population immunity at a high level through routine immunization and to continue high-quality campaigns until the virus is completely eradicated and the entire world is declared polio-free.