PAHO warns dwindling vaccination rates could result in increased cases of polio, other diseases

WASHINGTON, CMC – The director of the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), Dr. Carissa Etienne, Wednesday warned that while the COVID-19 pandemic continues to kill an estimated 4,000 lives weekly in the Americas, and Monkeypox cases rise, the polio virus has now been detected among unvaccinated communities in New York.

As a result, the Dominican-born PAHO officials is calling on countries, including those in the Caribbean, to urgently strengthen surveillance and routine vaccination campaigns.

Dr Etienne told reporters that although the United States has mounted a swift public health response following the detection, polio is a disease that “I never expected to see in our region again.

“It's been nearly 30 years since the Americas became the first global region to wipe out wild polio,” she said, noting however that “dwindling vaccination rates, worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic, have left many of our populations unprotected.”

PAHO said polio, which can spread quickly among communities with insufficient vaccination coverage is not a treatable disease, but is fully preventable with vaccines.

Yet today, vaccination coverage has fallen below 80 per cent in nearly all of South America, and 12 countries in the region are at high or very high risk of experiencing an outbreak.

PAHO said it has been working closely with the United States and has issued several alerts to Member States to remain vigilant and take measures to proactively reach unvaccinated populations with a polio vaccine.

“We must not take the lifesaving power of vaccines for granted,” said Dr. Etienne, urging countries of the region to step up their COVID-19 vaccination campaigns, particularly in the Caribbean, where a number of islands are falling behind.

“If we remain committed, we can keep COVID-19 under control. Not by ignoring it but by continuing to make use of the many tools we have at our disposal to trace, and most importantly prevent, infections.”

She said this includes public health measures that must be promoted, particularly “in places where many remain unvaccinated, or where cases are climbing.”

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