Vaccines work - the polio case study

24 years after the campaign launched, wild polio has been eradicated in Africa

In 1996, the Kick Polio Out of Africa Campaign launched. At the time, wild poliovirus - known as polio - paralysed roughly 75,000 children in Africa each year. 

Following a mammoth, decades-long vaccination program, Africa’s top infectious disease body has finally declared the continent free of wild polio. 

The extraordinary public health success leaves us clues for how to manage COVID-19. Mainly: vaccines work. 

What is polio? 

Polio is an infectious disease. In 0.5% of cases, it causes dramatic muscle weakness, often in the legs, that can last for life. In less than 0.1% of cases, those infected die. 

Outbreaks often occur via contaminated food or water. 

There is no cure. Treatment for polio requires a life of rehabilitation, or permanent aids such as portable ventilators for breathing, wheelchairs, or corrective shoes. 

The vaccine effort 

Countries began rolling out polio vaccines by the mid-1950s, leading to the disease being essentially eradicated in most of the developed world. 

Amid low vaccine coverage, the virus persisted in much of Africa, as well as India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. 

In 1988, there were an estimated 350,000 global. By 2001, there were only 483. 

Almost there

In 2012, the World Health Organisation declared it a priority to not just reduce cases of polio, but eradicate the virus. 

These days it’s estimated 95% of Africa’s population have had the polio vaccine. Coverage is so strong that there have been barely any outbreaks of wild polio since 2016. 

The roughly 100 or so cases per year now mostly come from small outbreaks linked to the vaccines themselves - sometimes, the vaccine used mutates into something stronger and infects a community. 

It’s a small price to pay for a disease that used to infect hundreds of thousands a year. 

Vaccines work 

Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organisation director for Africa, said polio reminds us of the extraordinary ways we can overcome infectious diseases. 

“It is a vivid reminder that vaccines work and that the collective actions of communities, governments and partners can bring about tremendous changes,” Dr Moeti said.

Since 1996, polio vaccines are estimated to have prevented up to 1.8 cases of life-long paralysis and saved 180,000 lives.