The World Health Organization has declared the spread of polio as an international public health emergency.<\/p>\n
Outbreaks in Asia, Africa and Middle East are an “extraordinary event” needing a co-ordinated “international response”, the agency said.<\/p>\n
It recommends citizens of affected countries travelling abroad carry a vaccination certificate.<\/p>\n
The conditions for a public health emergency of “international concern” were met, said the WHO’s Bruce Aylward.<\/p>\n
Mr Aylward, WHO Assistant Director General, was speaking after an emergency meeting in Geneva on the spread of polio which included representatives of the affected countries.<\/p>\n
“The international spread of polio to date in 2014 constitutes an ‘extraordinary event’ and a public health risk to other states for which a co-ordinated international response is essential,” the WHO’s Emergency Committee said in statement.<\/p>\n
“If unchecked, this situation could result in failure to eradicate globally one of the world’s most serious vaccine preventable diseases.”<\/p>\n
“Pakistan, Cameroon, and the Syrian Arab Republic pose the greatest risk of further wild poliovirus exportations in 2014,” the agency says.<\/p>\n
And the WHO lists Afghanistan, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Iraq, Israel, Somalia and Nigeria as “posing an ongoing risk for new wild poliovirus exportations in 2014.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The World Health Organization has declared the spread of polio as an international public health emergency. Outbreaks in Asia, Africa and Middle East are an “extraordinary event” needing a co-ordinated “international response”, the agency said. It recommends citizens of affected countries travelling abroad carry a vaccination certificate. The conditions for a public health emergency of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":16545,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[15,14],"yoast_head":"\n