Following confirmation of polio in Syria, health ministers of the Eastern Mediterranean declared the circulation of poliovirus in the Region an ‘emergency’ for all Member States at its Regional Committee meeting in Oman last week. It called on Pakistan to take necessary steps to ensure all children were accessed and vaccinated as a matter of utmost emergency to prevent further international spread and requested Syria and adjoining countries to coordinate intensified mass vaccination campaigns using the most appropriate tactics and vaccines to interrupt this new outbreak within six months. For more on the Regional Committee meeting click here.
The Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on immunization (SAGE) is meeting this week in Geneva, Switzerland. Among other topics, the SAGE is expected to review the latest global polio epidemiology, strategies for accelerating polio eradication and plans for introduction of inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) into routine immunization.