The IPV will help secure a world free of all polio disease
KATHMANDU, 18 September 2014 – In a landmark step to accelerate the global eradication of polio and help prevent a resurgence of the disease, Nepal is today introducing the Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV) into its routine immunization programme. Nepal has the distinction of being the first country in South Asia region to launch IPV as part of the global roll-out of the vaccine.
Until now, oral polio vaccine (OPV) has been the primary tool in the global polio eradication effort, reducing incidence of the disease by more than 99 percent worldwide thanks to its unique ability to stop person-to-person spread of the virus. Nepal, along with Bangladesh, Bhutan, Democratic People´s Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor-Leste, was declared polio free last March. Endemic polio has been successfully eliminated from all but three countries worldwide.
Nepal has made tremendous progress in improving the health and survival of children in the last 25 years. The under-5 mortality rate has significantly reduced from 147 per thousand live births in 1990 to 54 per thousand in 2011. Also, the coverage of immunization against polio has doubled to 90 percent in 2011 from 44 percent in 1984. Thanks to the tireless efforts of community members and the Female Community Health Volunteers together with the Government and its partners WHO, UNICEF, Rotary and GAVI, Nepal has been able to achieve near universal immunization coverage.
Despite this progress, experts caution that polio-free countries remain at risk of re-infection until the disease has been eradicated everywhere. New evidence now demonstrates that adding one dose of IPV at 14 weeks of age to OPV is even more effective than OPV alone at stopping the virus and protecting children. IPV and OPV evoke different immune responses and when used together, maximize immunity to polio virus.
IPV is being introduced in Nepal in order to quickly maximize childhood immunity to polio and maintain the country’s polio-free status. IPV has been proven an extremely safe and effective vaccine and has been used successfully in many developed countries for several decades. It is important to note that IPV is recommended in addition to the oral vaccine and does not replace the oral vaccine.
IPV is administered to children at 14 weeks of age by intramuscular injection by a trained health worker at established health facilities or immunization sessions. The Ministry of Health and Population has successfully conducted training for all heath workers in all 75 districts on successful IPV administration.
The universal introduction of IPV is part of the global plan to eradicate polio and secure the gains through stronger immunization systems, so that children, no matter where they are born, will never again suffer from this debilitating, preventable disease.
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For further information, please contact:
Dr. Shyam Raj Upreti, Director, Child Health Division, Email: drshyam@hotmail.com, Tel: 4273539