How Africa became polio-free for a full year

Last week marked a full year since any new cases of polio have been reported in Africa, according to the Word Health Organization. While the news has been met with limited fanfare — a region isn't considered polio-free until it's gone three years without new cases — this is a huge milestone demonstrating the effectiveness of community-based and culturally relevant global health initiatives. Though the last "wild" case was recorded in Somalia on Aug. 11, 2014, the strain had been traced back to an outbreak in Nigeria, the last African country where polio is considered endemic. This step toward eradication is especially encouraging in light of the serial setbacks public health officials have faced in recent years. The primary reason eradication in Nigeria has been proven so challenging is similar to why the U.S. still has measles outbreaks: miseducation surrounding the vaccine is rampant. In 2003, rumors that the vaccine was meant to sterilize women, contained pork products or caused AIDS spread throughout the majority Muslim northeastern region of Kano. The government halted vaccinations for a year, triggering an outbreak that spread to countries as far as Indonesia. UNICEF deployed 16,000 local educators to cover rural communities and recruited women to speak to new mothers about giving their children the orally administered vaccine. To address people's concerns surrounding the religious legitimacy of the vaccine, the WHO flew in Muslim scholars to assure local leaders the vaccines are halal. Likewise, officials further assured users of the vaccines being halal by using vaccines manufactured in Indonesia. A Plus