Polio Eradication

Lord Skelmersdale Excerpts

Monday 19th November 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Northover]

The Rotarians might be the kind of example that the noble Baroness is thinking of. There have been a number of match-funded programmes, and we are continuing to look at developing this further. It is extremely important that it is not only the donor nations that carry this forward; there must be engagement in the countries in question. It is encouraging, for example, to see the effort that was put in in India and the current efforts in Nigeria. It is by those countries tackling this, taking ownership of it and ensuring that their communities are responding that we will eradicate this disease.

[Lord Skelmersdale]

For how many years does vaccination have to continue before polio can be eradicated?

[Baroness Northover]

One strain of polio has already been eradicated. In India, for example, the last case of polio was a number of months ago, and it will be given a clean bill of health by 2014. Vaccination has to continue for some time afterwards, as the noble Lord will appreciate, to make sure that there are no as-yet-undetected cases. That is built in to the way the programme is being taken forward to 2018.