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The World Health Organization's Plan of Action for Global Eradication of Poliomyelitis by the Year 2000 a
Author(s) -
HENDERSON R. H.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1989.tb27359.x
Subject(s) - annals , poliomyelitis , citation , action plan , library science , action (physics) , political science , medicine , operations research , law , management , history , classics , pediatrics , computer science , engineering , physics , quantum mechanics , economics
In May 1988, the Forty-first World Health Assembly committed WHO to the global eradication of poliomyelitis by the year 2000 (resolution WHA41.28). The Health Assembly emphasized that eradication efforts should be pursued in ways which strengthen the development of the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI), fostering its contribution, in turn, to the development of primary health care. The Health Assembly had as a background document the “Declaration of Talloires,”b which also cited this poliomyelitis eradication goal. The Declaration was issued by the Task Force for Child Survival (comprising WHO, UNICEF, the World Bank, UNDP and the Rockefeller Foundation) after a meeting in March 1988 in Talloires, France, attended by world leaders in the area of health and development. This Plan of Action draws on experience gained in the Region of the Americas, which began its drive for poliomyelitis eradication in 1985, and the resulting optimism about the feasibility of using the specialized efforts required for eradication to boost broader aspects of immunization and strengthen other health services. The progress of EPI has resulted in optimism about the eradication of poliomyelitis during the next decade. In 1988, coverage rates for a third dose of polio or DPT vaccines in developing countries were more than 60%. In response to the EPI goal of providing immunization for all children of the world by 1990 (universal child immunization by 1990, or “UCI1990”), national and international efforts are being intensified to increase coverage to 80% or more for all antigens included in the Programme by this date. Achieving and sustaining this level is a prerequisite for the global eradication of poliomyelitis. Improved surveillance of poliomyelitis is essential so that useful information about cases and outbreaks can be used to guide and refine eradication strategies. For example, experience to date suggests that the circulation of wild polioviruses in communities