All articles tagged with #disease eradication
Pakistan has launched its final anti-polio vaccination campaign of 2025 to protect 45 million children amid a surge in cases, with efforts intensified despite security threats and militant attacks, aiming to eradicate the disease in the country.
Jordan has become the first country in the world to eradicate leprosy, a chronic infectious disease, as recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO). This achievement follows over two decades without any reported autochthonous cases in the country. The WHO praised Jordan's efforts, highlighting it as an inspiration for other nations to combat this neglected tropical disease, which still affects over 200,000 people annually worldwide.
Polio, a disease that once paralyzed hundreds of thousands of children annually, has been significantly reduced through global vaccination efforts. The development of vaccines by Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin led to the eradication of wild poliovirus in many regions, with only two countries still affected. Despite setbacks during the COVID-19 pandemic, the global eradication of polio is within reach, requiring widespread access to new vaccines, clean water, sanitation facilities, and comprehensive testing. The world has the opportunity to achieve one of humanity's greatest goals by eradicating polio and ensuring a polio-free future for all children.
Cape Verde becomes the first African country in 50 years to eradicate malaria, with no cases of transmission for three years. The nation's strategies included focused preventative medication, active mosquito control, and improved testing and treatment. Lao People’s Democratic Republic also celebrated the successful eradication of lymphatic filariasis, a debilitating parasitic disease, becoming the 18th country in the Asian and Pacific tropics to do so.
Scientists from the US and UK have developed "super-engineered" polio vaccines that prevent the virus from mutating into a dangerous form that can cause outbreaks and paralysis. The oral vaccines contain weakened live polio viruses that have been genetically redesigned to lock them into a weakened state. The researchers have now created upgraded vaccines against all three types of polio, but better vaccines still need to reach every child to stop the disease. The new vaccines address the instability question, but not the coverage issue.
The global campaign to eradicate polio has been successful in reducing the number of cases, but it hasn't actually eradicated the disease. The worst outbreaks of vaccine-derived polio are in parts of Nigeria, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Yemen. The oral polio vaccine can mutate and cause paralytic disease, and the injectable vaccine is more expensive. Health experts suggest that resources being used to attack polio should instead be folded into programs that beef up all routine childhood immunization programs globally.