Polio this week as of 11 January 2023

Headlines:

• Ahead of the WHO Executive Board that is scheduled to take place from 30 January to 7 February 2023, the Secretariat has prepared two reports which will inform Member State discussions, namely on polio eradication and on polio transition planning and post-certification. On polio eradication, the report provides an update on work towards fully implementing and financing all aspects of the Polio Eradication Strategy 2022--2026, which received support at the Seventy-fifth World Health Assembly. The polio transition planning and polio post-certification report provides an update on the implementation of the Strategic Action Plan on Polio Transition (2018--2023), with a focus on steps being taken by the Secretariat in 2023 to respond to the recommendations of the mid-term evaluation of the Strategic Action Plan, and on progress at the country level.
• 13 January 2023 marks 12 years since the last case of wild poliovirus in India -- a remarkable public health success. "It seemed impossible until it was done!" -- Dr Hamid Jafari, Director of Polio for WHO's Eastern Mediterranean Region, reflects on his time eradicating polio in India and what lessons we can take from this to address the final challenges for achieving eradication in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
• Well-known science educator Hank Green discusses polio's rise to explosive outbreaks in the 1950s and the ensuing development of the inactivated and oral vaccines in this educational video on polio eradication. The clip looks positively upon OPV, while recognizing its drawbacks and the GPEI's plan to switch to exclusive IPV use in the next few years. Vaccine-derived polio and "the switch" are also discussed, accompanied by on-message explanations. Though Green does not cover nOPV2, the video gives a very good historical and scientific overview of the existing polio vaccines, their strengths against various types of polioviruses, and some of the challenges and promises of eradication.
• For a snapshot of Pakistan polio activities in the last month, take a look at the NEOC newsletter available here.

Summary of new polioviruses this week:

• DR Congo: 17 cVDPV1 cases and 15 cVDPV2 cases
• Niger: one cVDPV2 case
• USA: 12 cVDPV2 positive environmental samples