The Progress of Nations 2000

'8 A* -
DATA BRIEFS: PROGRESS AND DISPARITY
Polio: Eradication within sight

A comprehlensive global campaign to reach tihe
miilestone of polio eradication by the year 2000 has
putished back the number of (detected cases so far
to atbouit 7,000. The campaign has also inarrowed
lithe dtisease 's reach: The number of countries report ig t he presence of polio dropped from 50 to 30
betweenl 1998 and 1999 alone. When the caimpaign
tbegan in 1988, there were 35,000 cases confirmedl
worldtwitde. It is estimated that these represented
onily one tenth of all cases occurring at that tiime in
virtually all developing tcountries.
India now has the greatest number of polio cases,
fh llowed by Angola and Nigeria. Four large-scale
National Iniunization Days (NIDs) were held in
Inlia last year reahing as Iimariy as 147 nillion
children in a single (lay; as a result, reported cases
teclinedtl by appl)roximately 40%.
The greatest effotrts this year will be concentrated in the 14 countries with the highest risk for
(conittinuedl tranismiission of polio into the year 2(X)1.
These are Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladeslh,
Chad, Conrlgo, the Democratic Republic of
Congo, Fthiopia, India, Iraq, Niger, Nigeria,
Pakistani, Somalia and Sudan.
I nadeqntate surveillance in several of these
(countries means that available figures could be
inaccurate and the cotuntries are not expected to
achieve eradicatioin by the end of the year 2000.
Campaigns to end polio will therefore have to he
maintained through 2003, with an intensification
of activities such as house-to-house iiiimuinization
and re(doubling of efforts to reach the unreached.
'The delay to achieve eradication is minor Coml)artedl to the remarkale progress made t(o (late.

1988: 35,000 cases
* Countries with polio transmission
Note: This map does not
reflect a position by UNICEF
on the legal status of any
country or territory or the
delimitation of any frontiers.
* EPI dlata as Of May 2000

Progress towards
polio eradication

ILI'

2000: 7,021 cases*

I ast year alone, through National and SubNational Immunization Days, 470 million children in 83 countries were iniunized. In 52 of
these countries, vitamin A supp)lementation, whichl
helps reduce childhood deaths from comntion infections, was included in the immunization activities.
Continuing conflicts in some countries in Africa
and South Asia posed serious challenges to the
polio eradication efforts, but effective intervenitions by the United Nations Secretary-General,
UN agencies and other partners yielded truces
during which warring factions silencedl their guns

for specified d(lays to allow ininiiiization teams to
reach children in conflict areas. As a result of
these 'days of tranquillity', 8.7 nmillion children
in the Democratic Repubil)lic of Congo, 4.4 million
in Afghanistan andi 3 million iii Angola were immunized in 1999.
Similar interventions were carried outi in wartorn Sierra leone and southern Sudan, and more
will be neede(d this year and the next to ensure
that every child is reached if the world is to
achieve the global certificationii of tpolio eradication in the year 2005.

Plans to save more
children with Hib vaccine

Lining up for help
Hib-endemic countries eligible for vaccine aid*

Eve ry year, a shocking 400,000 chill'ren d(lie 'fromn neumonia and meningitis because the 43 developing
cointries inll which they live laek resources to add the life-saving Hilt)
(luerrtnoph il s iIiJ/lWuetnzte type 1))
vaccine to routine immunization
programnies.
A priority objective of the Global
Alliance for Vaccinies aind iiiuiinizat ioii (GAVI) of which UNICEF
is a miember is to have at least half
of eligilble lib-endemi c counitries
itt itrodrce the Ilil) vaccine bty 2005.

First in line are 26 poor countries,
selecte d on the basis of three criteria:
per capita incomes under $1,000;
l)PT3 immiunization coverage of
50% or imore (indicating the calpa('ity to deliver the va'ccine); and populations under 150 miillion. Another
17 countries will become eligible if
their IIDPT3 coverage improves.
iPneumionia andii( neningitis primnarily affect childlren uinder five years old;
the moist vulnerable are those between
4 mon(ths and 18 months of age. Up
tt 20% of children who survive Hib

Benin
Burundi
Comoros
C6te d'lvoire
Cuba
Eritrea
Ethiopia

Gambia
Ghana
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
Kenya
Lesotho
Madagascar

Malawi
Mali
Mozambique
Rwanda
Sao Tome/Principe
Senegal
Sierra Leone

Sudan
Tanzania
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe

*Based on DPT3 coverage of 50% or more, per capita income
under $1,000 and population under 150 million.
Soure: UNICEF.
meningitis are at risk of permanent and is inow a part of many industrineurologitcal tdisability, including alized antd otiher countries' irnrnunibraini daniage, hearing loss and imen- zaition prtograiimiies. The vaccine is
tal retardation. among the safest of all vaccines aind
tlit vaccine (there are several types) provitldes 95% protection for infaiits
was intrloduiced in the early 1990s who are fully iiniunnizetd.

I Gi-t