Polio Control Programme VIII

completed

In 1988, the international community agreed to eradicate polio. Between 1988 and 2018, the number of infections was reduced from 350,000 to 29 cases per year. At the same time, the number of endemic countries fell from 125 to three, including Nigeria. Against this background, in 2012 the WHO gave the fight against polio in the last countries the highest level of urgency. In order to stop the transmission of the virus in the last three remaining endemic countries (in addition to Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan), the WHO and UNICEF developed a global strategy under the umbrella of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI). The FC-funded program aims to help interrupt the transmission of the polio virus in Nigeria. It therefore contributes directly to the global eradication of the virus. It is a remarkable success of the vaccination campaigns carried out in Nigeria that the last transmission of the wild polio virus took place in August 2016. The vaccination campaigns must now be carried out consistently and with the same intensity and in an adapted form at least until 2018 so that the transmission of the virus is permanently interrupted. As in the previous phases IV to VII, the FC funds for program phase VIII will be used to finance the operational costs of carrying out and preparing vaccination campaigns, and if necessary also for the procurement of vaccines. The target group is all children under five years of age in Nigeria, and in particular children in the high-risk states. The FC contribution for phase VIII is EUR 10.02 million. Given the existing funding bottlenecks in the Nigeria Polio Eradication Program 2015/16, the intention is to make the FC funds available directly to WHO and UNICEF as early as possible, i.e. in mid-2016 - similar to phases IV to VII. The funds will be used by WHO and UNICEF in coordination with the Nigerian sponsor for the implementation of the Nigerian Polio Eradication Program 2015/16. The programme proposal for Phase VI included a reserve review of EUR 50 million. Of this, EUR 10 million will be used for programme phase VII and EUR 10.02 million for programme phase VIII.