Article link-https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/18/malawi-finds-wild-polio-case-first-in-africa-in-five-years
In Malawi there was an outbreak of polio. This outbreak was discovered in the country’s capital located in Lilongwe. A young child was found to have the first case of polio virus in Africa in more than five years. ̈The strain found in the child in Lilongwe has been linked to one circulating in Pakistan where the virus remains endemic, the World Health Organization said in a statement on Thursday.̈ The WHO said the new case of polio did not affect the status of Africa when they declared the disease in August 2020. ̈WHO said it was giving its assistance to the health authorities in Malawi, carrying out a risk assessment and outbreak response and deploying the Global Polio Eradication Initiative’s (GPEI) rapid response team. It is also stepping up supplemental immunisation.̈
There are a couple things being done as a response to this outbreak. The WHO stated that they were providing aid and health assistance towards Malawi. In addition, the Global Polio Eradication (GPEI) carried out a risk response and deployment. The good news is that the last case in Africa of Polio was identified in northern Nigeria in 2016. Globally there were only five cases of polio in 2021. “Any case of wild polio virus is a significant event and we will mobilize all resources to support the country’s response,” said Dr Modjirom Ndoutabe, polio coordinator in the WHO Regional Office for Africa. Polio is a highly infectious and debilitating disease that is usually spread through contaminated water or food. Invading the nervous system, it can cause total paralysis within hours. I think that due to this extremely deadly disease this needs to be treated immediately.
This relates back to the class because in the article it discusses a government agency like the WHO. The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as “the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health”.