Anisa’s story epitomizes the heroic contribution of women polio workers in Afghanistan who continue building trust in vaccines among parents and caregivers in the quest to immunize every last child and end polio.
The yellow taxi drives slowly on an unpaved Afghan road. It has rained heavily turning the detritus on the ground into a muddy quagmire, and the car labours in its efforts not to get stuck.
Stopping near a house, a young woman in a black scarf and traditional dress climbs out of the car. This woman is Anisa, a UNICEF consultant for the polio programme. Today she is visiting parents who are refusing to let their children be vaccinated, to explain why the two drops of oral polio vaccine (OPV) are critical for their health and wellbeing.
We enter one of the houses and meet an elderly woman.
“I am not vaccinating my grandchildren!” The woman sounds resolute, but we stay anyway. “Can we talk about something else?” Anisa asks calmly. Shortly thereafter, we’re drinking tea and praising the mild weather. The grandmother tells us her left leg was almost fully paralyzed half a year ago and she can’t walk normally.
“This is horrible. You should go to the clinic. I can recommend a good doctor for you. And do you also know that children who are not immunized can also be paralysed because of polio?” Anisa starts getting to the point of our visit. “You have two wonderful granddaughters and it’s easy to protect them.”
The grandmother doesn’t seem convinced but asks questions about the rumours around the vaccine. Anisa explains that OPV is safe, halal for Muslims, and it is the only way to protect children from getting polio. One hour later, the grandmother nods – she finally agreed to vaccinate. It is hard to say what was the turning point that convinced her. Maybe the photos of paralyzed polio survivors that Anisa showed her on her phone; maybe information that polio vaccination is required for Hajj and Umrah (religious pilgrimages to Mecca which must be done at least once in lifetime by all Muslims); or simply the fact that Anisa vaccinated her own two children, and they are safe and well. The fact that the grandmother finally agreed to vaccination feels like a big victory – but it’s just a small step in the battle against polio.
Anisa has been working in the health sector for almost 10 years – as a midwife, female mobiliser vaccinator, nutrition officer and a clinical mentor. She first started to support the polio programme as a Provincial Communication Officer (PCO), supervising over a hundred communication cluster supervisors.
During the national immunization campaigns, even during the COVID-19 pandemic, Anisa supports the teams by conducting information sessions for refusal families and arranging discussion sessions for community groups. She also holds awareness raising sessions on how to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“After my first day working with refusal families, I wanted to leave the job. I didn’t convince anyone. But then I managed to convince one family with five children, who have never been vaccinated and it felt like such a victory that I decided to stay,” remembers Anisa. “Now I know how to approach different people; I understand what type of information is important to persuade them to make the right decision.”
In November:
3 cases of Wild Polio Virus (WPV1) were confirmed
54 cross-border teams and 288 permanent transit teams (PTTs) were operational across Afghanistan in November 2020.
These teams vaccinated 79,489 and 538,674 children, respectively.
On a wintery November day, vaccinators across Afghanistan wrapped up warm, checked that they had facemasks and hand sanitizer, and headed out into the cold morning. Their mission? To reach 9.9 million children with polio vaccines, before snowfall blocked their way.
From valleys to muddy lanes, we look at some of the environments where vaccinators work, as well as some of the key challenges that have made 2020 one of the toughest years for polio eradicators.
Panjshir province
For some vaccinators, the first snows had already arrived. At the top of the Panjshir valley, Ziaullah and Nawid Ahmad started their day at 7am.
“We walked six hours to Sar-e Tangi and back to take polio drops to the last houses in the valley”, said Ziaullah. The mountainous roads in this area are impassable by car, so vaccinators walk many kilometers to the most remote villages. Sar-e Tangi means ‘top narrow edge’, and the view during the long winter is of snowy peaks.
A few kilometers from Sar-e Tangi, father Arsalan Khan was proud to have protected his own and other children in the extended family with polio drops. He said, “I ensure all the children in the family are vaccinated during each round the drops were offered and of course I will keep vaccinating them each time the vaccinators visit our village”.
Khan continued, “The vaccinators walk long distances across the mountain slopes to our villages, sometimes during harsh weather conditions, to bring polio drops to our doors.”
“Thanks to the people and countries that support the vaccination campaigns and make it possible for the drops to reach our doorsteps.”
In Badakhstan, Mr. Azizullah had COVID-19 safety measures on his mind. Like all vaccinators working for the polio programme, he had been trained on how to safely deliver polio drops during the pandemic. The temperature was below zero, with the first snow on the ground, as Mr. Azizullah walked through the rugged terrain from home to home, ensuring to wear his mask and regularly sanitize his hands.
Mr. Abdul Basit and Misbahuddin, volunteers in nearby Aab Barik village said, “It is cold and walking through muddy lanes is not easy, but we have to do our job. There was one case of polio in Badakhshan so that means there is probably virus circulation and we have to stop that”.
Mr. Abdullah, a university lecturer observing vaccination activities in Herat, said, “I believe a vaccinator’s job is more important than mine. I really appreciate their work and appreciate the international community for making the polio immunization operations possible in Afghanistan with their financial support.”
“I believe that all these efforts will be fruitful, hopefully soon, and we will get rid of the virus in our country”.
The November campaign was particularly aimed at boosting the immunity of unvaccinated children, and children who have not received their full vaccine doses. Many children have missed out on polio vaccines and other routine immunizations due to a pause in vaccination activities in the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Health workers are now racing against time to protect the youngest children from the poliovirus.
Ms. Sitara, mother of Yasameen, who was wrapped up warm against the elements, said, “I am very happy to be able to immunize my daughter and protect her against polio”.
In the east region of Afghanistan, 8,530 volunteers, 160 district coordinators and 786 cluster supervisors were hard at work, aiming to reach as many children as possible during the campaign.
Dr. Akram Hussain, Polio Eradication Initiative Team Lead for WHO in the region explained, “We were not able to do house to house campaigns in some parts of the region. As a result many children were missed during the October vaccination campaigns”.
Despite the best efforts of vaccinators, in October, 3.4 million children nationwide missed vaccines due to factors including insecurity, the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccine mistrust. The year 2020 has seen a significant rise in polio cases and detection of the virus in the environment, and the disease is present in almost all provinces.
The programme is aiming to reach more children and tackle virus spread next year. Activities include targeted campaigns in high risk districts, collaborating with the religious scholars from the Islamic Advisory Group to encourage vaccine uptake and communicating more effectively with communities.
The incredible contributions of the polio programme to COVID-19 response are testimony to the agility and adaptability of Afghanistan’s programme in the most difficult circumstances. Many hope that lessons learnt from this experience can be applied to achieving the eradication goal.
Ending polio requires everyone – including polio personnel, communities, parents, governments and stakeholders – to commit to overcoming challenges. As the weather turns colder and snow continues to fall, many are looking ahead to what 2021 holds for polio eradication in Afghanistan.
In a year marked by the global COVID-19 pandemic, global health leaders convening virtually at this week’s World Health Assembly called for continued urgent action on polio eradication. The Assembly congratulated the African region on reaching the public health milestone of certification as wild polio free, but highlighted the importance of global solidarity to achieve the goal of global eradication and certification.
Member States, including from polio-affected and high-risk countries, underscored the damage COVID-19 has caused to immunization systems around the world, leaving children at much more risk of preventable diseases such as polio. Delegates urged all stakeholders to follow WHO and UNICEF’s joint call for emergency action launched on 6 November to prioritise polio in national budgets as they rebuild their immunization systems in the wake of COVID-19, and the need to urgently mobilise an additional US$ 400 million for polio for emergency outbreak response over the next 14 months. In particular, Turkey and Vietnam have already responded to the call, mobilising additional resources and commitments to the effort.
The Assembly expressed appreciation at the GPEI’s ongoing and strategic efforts to maintain the programme amidst the ‘new reality’, in particular the support the polio infrastructure provides to COVID-19-response efforts. Many interventions underscored the critical role that polio staff and assets play in public health globally and underline the urgency of integrating these assets into the wider public health infrastructure.
At the same time, the GPEI’s work on gender was recognized, with thanks to the Foreign Ministers of Australia, Spain and the UK for their roles as Gender Champions for polio eradication.
Delegates expressed concern at the increase in circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV) outbreaks, and urged rapid roll-out of novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2), a next-generation oral polio vaccine aimed at more effectively and sustainably addressing these outbreaks. This vaccine is anticipated to be initially rolled-out by January 2021.
Speaking on behalf of children worldwide, Rotary International – the civil society arm of the GPEI partnership – thanked the global health leaders for their continued dedication to polio eradication and public health, and appealed for intensified global action to address immunization coverage gaps, by prioritizing investment in robust immunization systems to prevent deadly and debilitating diseases such as polio and measles.
Dr Elaha, at 22 years old, is a medical graduate and a District Polio Officer. She’s also helping fight the COVID-19 pandemic in Afghanistan.
“COVID-19 has affected both our work life and personal life. When I joined the polio team, I had plans to take initiative and look for innovative ways to fight polio, however, with the COVID-19 pandemic all my plans were challenged,” she says. “Campaigns were postponed and the number of cases were on the rise.”
The temporary pause in polio vaccination campaigns, necessary to keep health workers and communities safe during the early months of the pandemic, led to a widened immunity gap in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, the only two countries that still harbour wild poliovirus. Now, polio teams are urgently working to close the gap while continuing their support to Afghanistan’s COVID-19 response. To ensure their safety, all polio personnel have been trained to take precautionary measures against COVID-19, including wearing masks correctly and regular handwashing.
Dr Elaha doesn’t underestimate the danger of her work to fight COVID-19. She explains, “I start my day at 8am by visiting private and public clinics, pharmacies, traditional healers at their homes. Of course, I am worried about myself and my family getting COVID-19. My mother is elderly, and COVID-19 can be dangerous for her.”
“However, I am committed to serve my people and go out in the field to help save others’ lives. It is not easy. My family understand that I am a medical doctor, so no matter what virus is there, I have to do my job as a doctor.”
Through her work, Dr Elaha has come up against rumours and misinformation. A major part of both ending polio and fighting COVID-19 is working to inform and build trust with communities about diseases and how they can be prevented.
Elaha says, “A lot of people thought that COVID-19 was a disease of nonbelievers. At first, when I used to go to clinics, because of my medical degree, they respectfully listened to me. However, when I talked about COVID-19 and washing hands and other preventative methods, they would tell me that this disease was for nonbelievers.”
“Unfortunately, a lot of people got sick and many also lost their lives. People have started to believe the pandemic. They know that people can get sick and die of the disease.”
Although public awareness about the dangers of COVID-19 has improved, Dr Elaha believes there is still plenty to do to encourage communities to adopt disease prevention measures such as widespread mask wearing.
Until the pandemic is over, she is determined to work long hours to fight both polio and COVID-19. The polio workforce currently contributing to COVID-19 response includes almost 36,000 members of the Polio Surveillance Network, and over 47,000 polio frontline workers.
“I chose to continue to do public health awareness during the COVID-19 pandemic. I wanted to help save people’s lives and continue to serve my people,” says Farida, a polio worker and volunteer for the COVID-19 response.
Seven months since the first COVID-19 case was reported in Afghanistan, female polio programme frontline workers continue to support outbreak response. Often, they put concerns for their health to one side as they work in areas with many COVID-19 cases. Sometimes, their work brings them into conflict with the social norms of their community and society.
Farida has been working with the polio programme since 2010. Starting as a volunteer, she has moved up the ranks to become a district polio officer.
During the pandemic, Farida has taken on extra duties to identify suspected COVID-19 cases, share accurate information and trace individuals returning from abroad to ensure they are isolating.
On a typical day she heads out to speak to small groups of women about hygiene, breastfeeding, nutrition and measures to prevent COVID-19. She is the focal point for communicable diseases within her clinic, and so must also keep all her colleagues up to date on the latest information about COVID-19, alongside reinforcing knowledge about polio and the importance of vaccination.
Farida’s work is often emotionally challenging. “Luckily, I still have not contracted COVID-19,” she says.
“I reported seven people as I suspected that they had COVID-19, unfortunately six of them died and one of them survived and is healthy now.”
Ever since the first case of COVID-19 was reported in Afghanistan, the Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI) programme has been supporting the government response.
Since March 2020, nearly 36,000 members of the Polio Surveillance Network, almost 44,000 polio frontline workers, about 95,000 health providers and about 5,000 government and NGO staff have been trained on COVID-19 surveillance. Over 178,000 community and religious influencers have been trained to deliver outreach messages, and almost 7,000 coordination meetings have been held.
About 10,000 COVID-19 and polio surveillance visits have been made to health facilities, and more than 2,500 medical facilities have been surveyed for COVID-19 preparedness. Thanks to the efforts of the polio team, over 46,000 cases of COVID-19 have been detected, of which more than 8,000 have been confirmed.
Farida shares with her colleagues a sense of duty to her fellow citizens. She says, “I go out hoping that my work might save lives. If I stay home, who will give the information to people that I do?”
Vaccinators in countries including Afghanistan, Angola, Burkina Faso and Pakistan took to the streets this month to fill urgent immunity gaps that have widened in the under-five population during a four month pause to polio campaigns due to COVID-19.
Campaigns resumed in alignment with strict COVID-19 prevention measures, including screening of vaccinators for symptoms of COVID-19, regular handwashing, provision of masks and a ‘no touch’ vaccination method to ensure that distance is maintained between the frontline worker and child. Only workers from local communities provided house-to-house vaccination to prevent introduction of SARS-CoV2 infection in non-infected areas.
Although necessary to protect both health workers and communities from COVID-19, the temporary pause in house-to-house campaigns, coupled with pandemic-related disruptions to routine immunization and other essential health services, has resulted in expanding transmission of poliovirus in communities worldwide. Modelling by the polio programme suggests a potentially devastating cost to eradication efforts if campaigns do not resume.
In Afghanistan, 7858 vaccinators aimed to vaccinate 1 101 740 children in three provinces. Vaccinators were trained on COVID-19 infection control and prevention measures and were equipped to answer parents’ questions about the pandemic. Through the campaign, teams distributed 500 000 posters and 380 000 flyers featuring COVID-19 prevention messages.
In Angola, 1 287 717 children under five years of age were reached by over 4000 vaccinators observing COVID-19 infection prevention and control measures. All health workers were trained on infection risk, and 90 000 masks and 23 000 hand sanitizers were distributed by the Ministry of Health.
In Burkina Faso, 174 304 children under five years of age were vaccinated in two high-risk districts by 2000 frontline workers. Vaccinators and health care workers were trained on maintaining physical distancing while conducting the vaccination. 41 250 masks and 200 litres of hand sanitizer were made available through the COVID-19 committee in the country to protect frontline workers and families during the campaign.
In Pakistan, almost 800 000 children under the age of five were reached by vaccinators in districts where there is an outbreak of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus. Staff were trained on preventive measures to be followed during vaccination, including keeping physical distance inside homes and ensuring safe handling of a child while vaccinating and finger marking them.
“Our early stage analysis suggests that almost 80 million vaccination opportunities have been missed by children in our Region due to COVID-19, based on polio vaccination activities that had to be paused,” said Dr Hamid Jafari, Director for Polio Eradication in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. “That’s close to 60 million children who would have received important protection by vaccines against paralytic polio.”
Over the coming months, more countries plan to hold campaigns to close polio outbreaks and prevent further spread, when the local epidemiological situation permits.
“Our teams have been working across the Region to support the COVID-19 response since the beginning of the pandemic, as well as continuing with their work to eradicate polio,” said Dr Hamid Jafari. “We must now ensure that we work with communities to protect vulnerable children with vaccines, whilst ensuring strict safety and hygiene measures to prevent any further spread of COVID-19”.
Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, commented, “We cannot wait for the COVID-19 pandemic to be contained to resume immunization activities. If we stop immunization for too long, including for polio, vaccine-preventable diseases will have a detrimental effect on children’s health across the region.”
“The campaigns run by the Polio Eradication Programme demonstrate that mass immunization can be safely conducted under the strict implementation of COVID-19 infection prevention and control guidelines.”
In March 2020, polio social mobilisers from the UNICEF-run Immunization Communication Network (ICN) provided routine immunization referral services to over 37,000 children in southern and eastern Afghanistan.
The polio programme’s routine immunization efforts in Afghanistan have made important gains, especially in the country’s east, in the areas bordering Pakistan. Polio social mobilisers support mother and child health referral services, and help families keep track of their children’s health records. As the mobilisers are recruited from their community, they know the families in their neighborhood and can trace each child’s planned immunization schedule from birth.
It is critical that routine immunization continues throughout the pandemic to protect children from life-threatening diseases including polio. Polio mobilisers have found their work is even more valued during the COVID-19 response.
Masoud, a polio mobiliser, says ‘’I used to announce the immunization sessions through the Mosque but not all the targeted children were brought to the health facility. Now through the ICN support to routine immunization, the number of missed children has reduced due to tracking of every child in the community and coordinating with the health facility.”
“This is critical during the ongoing pandemic, as families are not sure if they can leave their homes to take their children to the health facility for immunization. The polio mobilisers are their guide in the community.’’
In April
8 cases of wild poliovirus were reported
0.81 million children were vaccinated.
Permanent transit teams vaccinated 776,818 children and cross-border teams vaccinated 33,609 children
In 2003, Melissa Corkum received a call that would change her life. The World Health Organization wanted to interview her for a position in their polio eradication team. Like most people who are hearing about polio eradication for the first time, the story compelled her, and she packed her bags to embark on a new adventure. Seventeen years later, she remains a dedicated champion of polio eradication.
A self-proclaimed ‘virus chaser’, Melissa has worked in all three polio endemic countries – Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria. She found inspiration in her first field job in Nigeria, where she realized the scale of the polio eradication programme and that she was a part of something tremendous in public health history.
“I was amazed and inspired when I first saw the efforts of the front-line workers delivering vaccines to the doorstep. It may seem simple to deliver a couple drops into a child’s mouth, but when you see it in motion for the first time, it is truly remarkable,” Melissa said.
To this day, Melissa remains in awe of the work required to make ‘reaching every child’ possible. From mobilizing financial resources, to getting vaccines where they need to be while keeping them cool. From the microplanning to ensure all children and their houses are on a map, to the mobilization of champions in support of polio and immunization. Along the way, the stewards of these processes play an essential role to deliver the polio vaccine.
Melissa has worn many hats during her time in polio eradication, but her current role may be the most challenging yet. As the Polio Outbreak Response Senior Manager with UNICEF, she must answer the formidable challenge of containing outbreaks, using her expertise to inform global policy, strategy and operations.
To do this Melissa spent 80% of her time in the field prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, working with partners of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), Ministries of Health and local health workers.
Her work is a mix of challenge and excitement – the challenges of containing outbreaks, including those affected by the COVID-19 emergency – and excitement in developing new tools and methods to overcome the evolving challenges that present barriers to eradicating polio.
“There is never a dull day no matter what hat you may be wearing within this programme. If we are going to put an end to polio for good, we are going to have to fight the fight on a number of fronts – endemics and now the emerging issue of outbreaks in a post-COVID world,” said Melissa.
“The key is a willingness to do whatever it takes to get the job done.”
At times, Melissa felt the weight of the enormous challenges to eradicate polio, especially during her time in Afghanistan, where protracted conflict has complicated efforts to deliver basic services to the most vulnerable. Melissa often reflects on her time as Polio Team Lead there and the emotional rollercoaster she faced trying to stay ahead of the virus, while watching the tragedy of war unfold in the country.
“But when I felt down, I would pick myself up and get ready to face the next challenge. I found hope and inspiration in the resilience of the Afghan people, especially the women who worked in the polio programme, risking their lives and demonstrating a courage that stood out amidst all the difficulties.”
Melissa sees gender as one of the keys to polio eradication. She firmly believes that the only way to tighten the gaps in the system is by involving and empowering women equally in all roles across the programme, and that the only way to reach every child is to ensure their caregivers are equally informed and engaged in the decision making process.
“Unless we involve more women in the programme in certain corners of the world, we will continue to reach the same children and miss the same children, making polio eradication ever more difficult,” Melissa said.
“Change won’t happen if we don’t change the way we think about involving women. We need to listen to their views and open the doors for more women to join and participate equally from the community level and all the way to the leadership, decision-making level.”
Melissa was born in a small town in Nova Scotia, Canada. Her views on the critical involvement of women and gender equality in the polio programme very much align with her government’s Feminist Aid Policy. The Government of Canada has been a long-time champion of polio eradication and recently generously pledged C$ 190 million to assist the GPEI achieve its objectives of polio eradication.
Greater gender equity is one of the legacies that the polio programme is working to leave behind after eradication. Reflecting on her career, Melissa explains what keeps her working to defeat polio after all these years.
“It is so inspiring to be part of something tangible and something that is completely possible if we commit ourselves to doing everything possible to find every last child”.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the polio programme has diverted thousands of personnel to fight the virus. Repurposing extensive experience eradicating polio, the programme is supporting country response in areas including information dissemination, disease surveillance, risk communications and data management.
Community social mobilizers stepped up in March to deliver soap bars and information on COVID-19 to some of Afghanistan’s poorest and most vulnerable communities.
Social mobilizers are local people trained to communicate with the public about specific health issues in ways that are understandable and encourage behaviours to protect health. In Afghanistan, UNICEF coordinates a network of 3,750 mobilizers.
Social mobilizer Feroz explained the importance of his mission. “The families were especially happy with the soap distribution. If the social mobilisers were not here, people would have remained uneducated about COVID-19.”
Just a few days after the decision to mobilize polio teams for COVID-19 response, Feroz’s team distributed thousands of soap bars and educational materials on the virus to communities across his province. Many of the families served have limited access to adequate sanitation products or facilities. Providing a bar of soap and demonstrating its use is a simple COVID-19 prevention measure.
During the distribution, the teams emphasized the importance of routine immunization continuing throughout the pandemic, reminding parents to take their children to health facilities. With house-to-house polio vaccination campaigns paused for the time being, many more children may be vulnerable to polio and other vaccine-preventable diseases if they do not receive vaccinations at health clinics.
The soap packaging carried a pro-vaccine message, reading ‘let’s come together for a polio-free Afghanistan.
Zuhal, a colleague of Feroz, explained that she has noticed a change in how vaccine hesitant families react to the polio social mobilisers since the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic. ‘’The number of people who were interested exceeded our expectations. We were able to attract our communities’ attention. Parents who used to refuse polio vaccine in campaigns have participated in COVID-19 discussions and eagerly asked for information.’’
She added, ‘’During the last polio campaign, I had to wait 30 minutes in front of one house. When the door was opened, a man told me, “Go, we do not want to vaccinate our children. Never come here again”. The same man looked for me in his neighbourhood during our COVID-19 information and soap distribution, and this time he was desperate for information. This shows that people in the community recognize that we are a source of information when they are concerned about their health, even if they have rejected polio vaccines in the past.’’
Feroz agreed, saying, “The community has more trust in us now we are trying to minimize the risk of COVID-19 infection through public education.’’
It is hoped that the trust built up between the mobilizers and communities during this time will translate into stronger relationships far into the future. This may help the polio programme reach out to children in families where vaccination has previously been viewed with suspicion.
Feroz is pleased to serve his community. He says, “I feel proud seeing the results of my work, when children receive routine immunization on time and pregnant women deliver safely at the hospital. Knowledge matters.”
He adds, “Information at the time of crises can be lifesaving. The polio programme has a mission to protect every child against diseases – polio and now COVID-19.”
The COVID -19 pandemic response requires worldwide solidarity. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) has a public health imperative to ensure that its resources are used to support countries in their preparedness and response. The COVID-19 emergency also means that polio eradication will be affected. We will continue to communicate on impact, plans and guidance as they evolve.
Using the vast infrastructure developed to identify the poliovirus and deliver vaccination campaigns, the polio eradication programme is pitching in to protect the vulnerable from COVID-19, especially in polio-endemic countries. From Pakistan to Nigeria, the programme is drawing on years of experience fighting outbreaks to support governments as they respond to the new virus.
Pakistan
Few health programmes have as much practice tracking virus or reaching out to communities as the Pakistan polio eradication programme. This means the polio team is in a strong position to support the Government of Pakistan in COVID-19 preparedness and response.
Currently, the polio team is providing assistance across the entire country, with a special focus on strengthening surveillance and awareness raising. Working side-by-side with the Government of Pakistan, within three weeks the team has managed to train over 280 surveillance officers in COVID-19 surveillance. It has also supported the development of a new data system that’s fully integrated with existing data management system for polio. All polio surveillance staff are now doubling up and supporting disease surveillance for COVID-19. Through cascade trainings, they have sensitized over 6,260 health professionals on COVID-19, alongside their polio duties, in light of the national emergency. These efforts will continue unabated as the virus continues to spread.
Adding to the capacity of the government and WHO Emergency team, the polio team are also engaged in COVID-19 contact tracing and improving testing in six reference laboratories. They have been trained to support and supplement the current efforts, preparing for a sudden surge in cases and responding to the increase in travelers that need to be traced as a result of the rise in cases. The regional reference laboratory for polio in Islamabad is also providing technical support to COVID-19 testing and has been evolving to cater to the increased demands.
As this is a new disease, polio staff are lending their skills as health risk communicators – providing accurate information and listening to people’s concerns. The government of Pakistan extended a national help line originally used for polio-related calls to now cater to the public’s need for information on COVID-19. The help line was quickly adapted by the polio communication team once the first COVID-19 case was announced. The polio communications team is using strategies routinely used to promote polio vaccines to disseminate information about the COVID-19 virus, including working with Facebook, to ensure accurate information sharing, and airing television adverts. As time goes on, the teams will train more and more people ensuring the provision of positive health practices messages that can curb the transmission of the virus.
Afghanistan
Currently, community volunteers who work for the polio programme to report children with acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) are delivering messages on handwashing to reduce spread of COVID-19, in addition to polio. UNICEF is similarly using its Immunization Communication Network to disseminate information on personal hygiene.
Field staff have taken the initiative of using their routine visits to health facilities, during which they check for children with AFP, to check for and report people who may have COVID-19. Meanwhile, programme staff are building the capacity of health workers to respond to the novel coronavirus.
To coordinate approaches, the WHO Afghanistan polio team has a designated focal point connecting with the wider COVID-19 operation led by the Government of Afghanistan. The polio eradication teams at regional and provincial levels are working closely with the Ministry of Public Health, non-governmental organizations delivering Afghanistan’s Basic Package of Health Services and other partners to enhance Afghanistan’s preparedness.
Nigeria
“In the field, when there is an emergency, WHO’s first call for support to the state governments is the polio personnel,” says Fiona Braka, WHO polio team lead in Nigeria.
In Ogun and Lagos states, where two cases of COVID-19 have been detected, over 50 WHO polio programme medical staff are working flat out to mitigate further spread, using lessons learnt from their years battling the poliovirus. Staff are engaged in integrated disease surveillance, contact tracing, and data collection and analysis. Public health experts working for the Stop Transmission of Polio programme, supported by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are using their skills to undertake COVID-19 case investigations.
The WHO Field Offices -which are usually used for polio eradication coordination- are doubling up as coordination hubs for WHO teams supporting the COVID-19 response. The programme is also lending phones, vehicles and administrative support to the COVID-19 effort.
In states where no cases of COVID-19 have been reported, polio staff are supporting preparedness activities. At a local level, polio programme infrastructure is being used to strengthen disease surveillance. Polio staff are working closely with government counterparts and facilitating capacity building on COVID-19 response protocols and are working to build awareness of the virus in the community. Specials efforts are being undertaken to train frontline workers as they are at high risk of contagion.
Beyond polio-endemic countries
Trained specialists in the STOP program, part of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, are actively supporting preparations or response to COVID-19 in 13 countries worldwide. The WHO Regional Office for Africa’s Rapid Response Team, who usually respond to polio outbreaks, are aiding COVID-19 preparedness in countries including Angola, Cameroon and the Central African Republic. Meanwhile, polio staff in other offices are ready to lend support, or are already lending support, to colleagues working to mitigate and respond to the new virus.
In our work to end polio, the programme sees the devastating impact that communicable diseases have. With this in mind, we are fully committed to supporting national health systems by engaging our expertise and assets to help mitigate and contain the COVID-19 pandemic, alongside continuing concerted efforts to eradicate polio.
For the latest information and advice on the COVID-19 disease outbreak visit the WHO website.
Dr Faten Kamel is on a flying visit to the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Regional Hub, stopping for meetings and to deliver a lecture on the relationship between polio and patients with primary immunodeficiencies. Then she’s off again – to Pakistan to take part in a polio programme management review.
Dr. Faten has travelled to every country in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, and many more besides. Alongside working as a Senior Global Expert for the programme, she is a wife, a mother, grandmother, and an informal mentor to women in public health.
Growing up in Alexandria, Egypt, Dr. Faten was exposed to the life-altering effects of polio on the people around her and was inspired by the work of her father, a surgeon and a Rotarian.
“My father was my role model, he had great passion for helping others and was also a Rotary Club president in 1989. His project for that year was on polio eradication.”
“Polio was prevalent in Egypt in those days. A number of people around me were affected. I was touched by their suffering in a place which was not highly equipped for people with special needs at that time.”
After graduating from her Medical Degree and Doctorate in Public Health, and lecturing for several years at Alexandria University, Dr. Faten moved into a role for WHO. She found her niche working in the immunization team. “Immunization is the most cost effective public health tool – it can prevent severe and deadly diseases with just two drops or a simple injection – I strongly believe in preventive medicine,” she explains.
“I became the Eastern Mediterranean Regional Medical Officer for polio eradication in 1998. At that time many countries were still endemic.”
The 1990s and early 2000s were years of rapid gains against the virus. However to fully eradicate polio, it was becoming clear that the programme would have to be more ingenious than any disease elimination or eradication project that had come before.
Dr. Faten took a leading role. She explains, “Strategies for immunization and disease surveillance were established, and these methods evolved over time. We pushed the boundaries to make the programme more effective – shifting to house to house vaccination, detailed microplanning and mapping, retrieval of missed children and independent monitoring.”
“We started as a small team – covering different aspects of work and supporting all the countries. My team started the regular analysis and publishing of data in “Poliofax”, we supported the shift to case based and active surveillance and gradually added different supplementary activities including environmental surveillance.”
“I was blessed to have the support of my parents, my husband and my son. As a married woman I think it is very important to have the support of your family. I also had wonderful supervisors who believed in my capabilities and gave me opportunities. I am similarly impressed with many of the young women in the programme today.”
Sometimes the biggest challenges for Dr. Faten and her team came out of the blue, such as when the programme faced huge polio outbreaks in areas that had become free of the virus.
“We didn’t expect polio to cause large outbreaks, but we were faced with them. To overcome the situation we started to work together as partners on effective response strategies within and across regions. The virus does not stop at borders and we had to coordinate multi-country activities.”
“In the polio eradication programme we cannot be satisfied with 80% or 90% coverage – we need to reach each and every child no matter where they are, even in the hard to reach and insecure places. So there was always a lot of innovation and adaptive strategies, we were thinking how can we bridge this, and reach these children.”
“That’s how we came up with access analysis and negotiation, days of tranquility, using windows of opportunities and short interval campaigns, community involvement and collaboration with NGOs, intensifying work at exit points, thinking out of the box all the time.”
Dr. Faten was determined to possess firsthand information on polio cases, no matter where they occurred. Sometimes, this led her down unexpected paths – such as when she travelled 21 hours through the Sudanese bush to track down a polio case in a remote village.
“I’ll never forget when a wild poliovirus type 3 (WPV3) case appeared in a very faraway place in Sudan after years without WPV3. I said, “I have to see it myself”. This mission was one of my most challenging fieldtrips.”
“We faced many difficulties, it was the rainy season, the car slipped on its side on our way and we arrived after midnight.”
“I thought the virus must have been hiding in this place for years. But I found the disease surveillance to be very good. Then by investigating, we found there was a wedding, and relatives were coming from another province, so I could nearly point my finger to where the virus came from. The virus was detected in that area and we managed to curtail its spread.
In 2016, Dr. Faten set up the Rapid Response Unit in Pakistan – a dedicated ‘A team’ that can jump into an at-risk area to mitigate virus spread. Today, she is working with medical professionals to ensure that individuals with primary immunodeficiencies get tested for poliovirus, as some of them are at risk of prolonged virus shedding.
What keeps her awake at night?
“I care about where we are not reaching. Polio eradication is beyond health – it needs all the sectors to come together especially in a big country. In the last strongholds of the virus we have population movement across the border, some areas that are difficult to reach, and there are some misconceptions.”
“If someone comes and says this area is inaccessible, this is not an answer for me. I ask: What should we do to reach? I like to make use of the ideas and experience that come from local people. The virus strongholds are in certain areas, so let us work closely with the people in these areas, empower them, and allow them to change the situation.”
Dr Faten is proud to be part of the polio eradication programme and looks forward to the day when polio eradication is achieved, so she can spend more time with her family in Australia.
“As a grandmother, I am especially determined to finish the job. I want my grandkids to grow up in a world free of polio. This will be my contribution to their futures.”
Amidst the extreme heat of the Afghan summer, Masooda, a polio outreach worker, moves with confidence between houses. Her aim is to talk to families that refuse to vaccinate their children against polio. Her energy is endless and she tops that with a smile and a warm way of talking with women and men.
Masooda has an impressive range of skills. She works as a skilled midwife with passion for her community. She is also a District Communications Officer for the polio programme, leading a team of 56 community outreach workers in her neighbourhood.
“I want to help my people – polio is a danger to every child, and we should eradicate it”, says Masooda.
Masooda recalls her early days with the programme, “I faced tough refusal families who denied their children the polio vaccine. A woman refused to vaccinate her younger sister. After one year, the sister died of measles as she hadn’t been vaccinated against it. Now, the same woman has a baby girl and she frequently takes her baby to the health centre for vaccination. Sadly, she learnt her lesson the hard way”.
Masooda leaves her house at 6:30am during immunization campaigns, just as the sun rises. She checks the outreach plans with her teams before they disperse around the town. Through the day, she makes supervisory visits to her teams and obtains updates on vaccine uptake issues. When she receives reports on absent and missing children, she converses with families in order to encourage them to vaccinate their children.
To eradicate polio from Afghanistan, Masooda thinks there is a lot more to do. She says, “I will continue to work hard, for every child to be able to walk, attend school and grow healthy. It is the whole community cause for generations to come.”
