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Polio infrastructure strengthened disease outbreak preparedness and response in the WHO African Region

Friday, 7th of October 2016 Print

 

Vaccine,Volume 34, Issue 43, 10 October 2016, Pages 5175–5180

Polio Eradication Initiative Best Practices in the WHO African Region

Polio infrastructure strengthened disease outbreak preparedness and response in the WHO African Region

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2016.05.070

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Excerpts below; full text is at

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X16303966

 


Highlights

•PEI resources are often deployed in response outbreaks of public health emergencies.

•These PEI contributions to disease outbreaks response have not been documented.

•The systematic documentation will enhance preparedness for outbreak response.


Abstract

Introduction

The continuous deployments of polio resources, infrastructures and systems for responding to other disease outbreaks in many African countries has led to a number of lessons considered as best practice that need to be documented for strengthening preparedness and response activities in future outbreaks.

Methods

We reviewed and documented the influence of polio best practices in outbreak preparedness and response in Angola, Nigeria and Ethiopia. Data from relevant programmes of the WHO African Region were also analyzed to demonstrate clearly the relative contributions of PEI resources and infrastructure to effective disease outbreak preparedness and response.

Results

Polio resources including, human, financial, and logistic, tool and strategies have tremendously contributed to responding to diseases outbreaks across the African region. In Angola, Nigeria and Ethiopia, many disease epidemics including Marburg Hemorrhagic fever, Dengue fever, Ebola Virus Diseases (EVD), Measles, Anthrax and Shigella have been controlled using existing polio Eradication Initiatives resources. Polio staffs are usually deployed in occasions to supports outbreak response activities (coordination, surveillance, contact tracing, case investigation, finance, data management, etc.). Polio logistics such vehicles, laboratories were also used in the response activities to other infectious diseases. Many polio tools including micro planning, dashboard, guidelines, SOPs on preparedness and response have also benefited to other epidemic-prone diseases. The Countries preparedness and response plan to WPV importation as well as the Polio Emergency Operation Center models were successfully used to develop, strengthen and respond to many other diseases outbreak with the implication of partners and the strong leadership and ownership of governments. This review has important implications for WHO/AFRO initiative to strengthening and improving disease outbreak preparedness and responses in the African Region in respect to the international health regulations core capacities.


1. Introduction

Outbreak response activities have been extremely challenging in Africa due largely to the weak health systems. Over the years, the polio eradication initiative (PEI) in the African Region mobilized and trained both health workers and volunteers with specializations on surveillance, social mobilization, supplementary immunization activities (SIAs), data management and coordination of response [1]. With the improvements in implementation of outbreak preparedness and response strategies, transmission of wild poliovirus had been effectively contained in the region. This achievement has been attributed to impressive amount of resources, approaches and practices generated and put in place for meeting the eradication targets [1] and [2]. Circulation was interrupted in three countries with re-established transmission Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Chad by the end of 2012. The 2008–2010 outbreaks in West Africa were rapidly contained.

Polio outbreak preparedness and response resources have in the recent past being deployed to containing the transmission of other disease outbreaks in many African countries the region, including Angola, Nigeria and Ethiopia. For instance, Polio funded staff and resources played a significant role during the outbreak of Marburg hemorrhagic fever and Dengue fever outbreaks in Angola in 2005 [3] and [4] and 2013 [5] respectively. In Nigeria, the successful response and containment of the Ebola Virus Diseases (EVD) was also attributed to polio resources and infrastructures [6] and [7]. Similarly, in Ethiopia, polio funded staff is usually involved in the response to other diseases outbreaks such as the massive outbreak of measles reported 2011 and recurrent outbreak of cholera.

The continuous deployments of polio resources, infrastructures and systems for response to other disease outbreaks in many African countries including Angola, Ethiopia and Nigeria has led to a number of lessons considered as best practice that need to be documented for strengthening preparedness and response activities in future outbreaks [8]. We summarized lessons learned from the Polio eradication Initiative infrastructures on the preparedness and response to epidemic-prone diseases in Angola, Ethiopia, and Nigeria.

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