The gains from the global implementation of polio eradication initiatives
are not only monetary. The GPEI has Selleck GS-9973 trained an enormous cadre of staff who understand basic health care needs and can provide services to people in the poorest areas in the world. Activities undertaken under the auspices of the GPEI have also contributed to the improvement of public health at large and increased the effectiveness of other preventive programs. Polio program staff have supported the surveillance of and response to measles, tetanus, meningitis, yellow fever and cholera. Furthermore, in many countries, the GPEI successfully expanded its delivery model to include the distribution of Vitamin A supplements alongside polio immunizations, estimated to have averted at least 1.1 million Vitamin A deficiency-related deaths from 1988 to 2010 [25]. In 2012, GF120918 concentration the World Health Assembly requested a comprehensive GSK2118436 in vivo polio endgame strategy [26], which culminated in the development of the Polio Eradication and Endgame Strategic Plan 2013–2018 [27]. The Plan is based
on broad consultations with national health authorities, global health initiatives, scientific experts, donor partners and other stakeholders. The Plan has four main objectives: to stop all wild poliovirus transmission by the end of 2014 and new cVDPV outbreaks within 120 days of confirmation of the first case; to strengthen immunization systems, introduce IPV into the routine immunization schedule globally and withdraw the use of oral polio vaccines; certify Chloroambucil all regions of the world polio-free by 2018 and ensure the safe containment of all poliovirus stocks; and to ensure that the world remains permanently polio-free with careful legacy planning as well as planning for the transition of assets and the infrastructure of the polio program to benefit
other development goals and global health interventions. The Plan aims to withdraw the use of the type-2 component of OPV in all routine immunization programs by mid-2016. The importance of withdrawing the type-2 component as quickly as possible was reinforced by the 2012 polio outbreaks caused by circulating type-2 vaccine-derived polioviruses, which left 65 children paralyzed in 7 countries: Afghanistan, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan and Somalia [28]. As of August 13, 2013, 17 cases of polio due to circulating type-2 vaccine-derived polioviruses were reported in 6 countries: Afghanistan, Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria, Pakistan and Somalia [29]. The withdrawal of the type-2 component of OPV will require the strengthening of immunization systems, the introduction of at least one dose of affordable IPV into the routine immunization schedule globally and then the replacement of tOPV with bOPV. This would pave the way for the eventual withdrawal of bOPV use in 2019–2020.