Article: The polio situation in the DRC and efforts to eradicate it
Every year on October 24, the world celebrates World Polio Day. In the DRC, although the country has not recorded a case of wild poliovirus since 2015, the disease is still present in the form of vaccine-derived cases. Despite the progress made in the fight against this pathology, the country has exceeded the threshold of a thousand cases of derived poliovirus between 2022 and 2023, according to health sources.
As part of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), the Rotary Club Kinshasa held a press conference on October 24 at the Sultani Hotel, in the commune of Gombe, to take stock of the situation of the disease in the DRC. According to statistics, the number of polio cases has decreased by 99% worldwide, but two variants of the disease are still circulating in the DRC, namely poliovirus type 2 since 2017 and poliovirus type 1 since 2022.
Since 2017, the country has recorded at least 960 children paralyzed by the derived poliovirus, with 317 cases in 2022 and 108 cases since the start of 2023 for the type 2 variant. As for the type 1 variant, there are had 143 cases in 2022 and 76 cases since the start of 2023. Faced with these alarming figures, the Congolese government has developed a strategic plan and implemented interventions to fight the disease.
During the press conference, Elisabeth Mukamba, coordinator of “COUP”, underlined the importance of everyone’s involvement to achieve the eradication of poliomyelitis in the DRC. She called on the Congolese community, particularly the media, to spread the message of polio vaccination in order to cover the last mile that remains to be covered. She also praised the Congolese government’s commitment to purchasing vaccines and its collaboration with partners such as UNICEF and GPEI to fight the disease.
Strengthening routine immunization, improving outbreak response, and strengthening surveillance of vaccine-preventable diseases are recommended to end outbreaks of circulating derived poliovirus. GPEI, a public-private partnership led by national governments and involving organizations such as WHO, Rotary International and UNICEF, supports the Congolese government’s efforts in this fight. Nearly 600 consultants were deployed to the field and nearly $20 million were mobilized to ensure the success of vaccination operations across the country.
In conclusion, the DRC faces the persistence of poliomyelitis in the form of cases derived from the vaccine strain. Despite the progress made, it is essential to strengthen vaccination and response efforts to completely eliminate this disease. The involvement of everyone, from the government to the media and the population, is essential to achieve this objective.