Polio vaccines set to arrive in PNG next week, says health minister
Then-WHO regional director for the Pacific, Dr Shin Young-soo provides oral polio vaccine in Lae in Morobe in 2018.
Photo:
supplied
Papua New Guinea's health minister, Elias Kapavore, says polio vaccines are set to arrive in the country next week.
The World Health Organisation declared an
outbreak of the disease in PNG
last month.
The
Post Courier
reported that as of 6 June, 48 cases of acute flaccid paralysis - a condition characterized by rapid onset of muscle weakness or paralysis, but not a disease in itself - had been reported across 11 provinces. Of these, 20 tested negatives for poliovirus, and 28 remain under investigation.
Kapavore said the primary objective is to protect children from paralysis and prevent further virus transmission.
Kapavore said vaccines are scheduled to arrive between 16 and 20 June. The estimated cost for two rounds of the vaccination campaign is 88 million kina (US$21.4m).
So far, 74 million kina has been secured through the PNG and Australian governments and from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, as well as technical and logistical support from WHO and UNICEF, including the full cost of the nOPV2 vaccine supply.
During the recent World Health Assembly in Geneva, Kapavore presented PNG's national statement, reaffirming its commitment to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative and advocating for cross-border coordination, especially with Indonesia.
"The genetic link to the Indonesian strain [of polio] highlights the urgency of strengthening biosecurity capacity at the Papua New Guinea-Indonesia border," he said.
"We must scale up surveillance and immunisation at these points of entry through coordinated efforts by the Departments of Health, Agriculture, Defence, Immigrations and Border Security, to prevent future cross-border transmission of polio and other infectious diseases."
He called upon every MP to actively support vaccination and awareness efforts in their constituencies.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation has raised concern about comebacks of vaccine-preventable disease in east Asia and the Pacific.
In the first months of 2025, countries like Cambodia, Mongolia, the Philippines and Vietnam have reported a sharp rise in measles cases compared with the same period last year.
UNICEF regional director for East Asia and the Pacific, June Kunugi, said measles and polio are highly infectious.
"And children are paying the price for gaps in coverage, delayed care, and misinformation. No child should suffer or die from a disease we know how to prevent."
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