Vaccination appeal after polio outbreak declared in PNG

RNZ News

18-05-2025

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123RF
Papua New Guinea's acting deputy secretary for public health is appealing to parents to get their young children vaccinated against polio.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has
declared a polio outbreak in the country
, and called for an immediate vaccination campaign.
This follows environmental sampling that showed a re-emergence of the highly infectious virus. The
BBC
reported samples were also found in two healthy children during a routine screening in Lae.
The government's planned response includes at least two rounds of nationwide vaccination, and expanding monitoring to detect any further cases.
It has approved 13 million kina (US$3.19m) to roll out vaccines in the country.
Health Minister Elias Kapavore described the situation as "serious but manageable".
"We've dealt with this before and know what works," he said.
Papua New Guinea was said to be polio-free since 2000, until an outbreak in 2018
which was contained
, but not before infecting 26 children and killing one.
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Poliomyelitis (polio) is a highly infectious disease mainly affecting children under five years of age but also can affect older age groups.
Most infected people have no symptoms but can transmit infection to others by excreting the virus in their faeces. It is estimated that one in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis.
UNICEF's representative in Papua New Guinea said it's working with the government on a strong communication strategy to avoid any misinformation around its polio response plan.
Veera Mendonca said media play a critical role in getting trusted messages out.
"You have to debunk harmful myths because... vaccines are safe. Immunisation is critical to protect all out children.
"Make sure that you prevent the spread of misinformation."
Acting deputy Secretary for Public Health Ken Wai said officials are working on how to elevate vaccination rates.
"So we appeal to all the mothers, all the fathers, take our young people to the nearest clinic," he said.
New Zealand's Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the country is ready to help Papua New Guinea if needed.
"Prime Minister Marape's a good friend of ours; he knows to reach out to us if there's anything we can do to help, as we've done before, as you saw with the landslides," he said.
"We're there to help Papua New Guinea but I think the message for all New Zealanders is get your children immunised."
Luxon said there's been no formal request for assistance as yet.
Worldwide, routine childhood immunisations dropped during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In 2022,
New York had a confirmed adult case
of polio, along with virus fragments detected in sewage outside the nation's largest city.
The same year about 900,000 children in London were offered a booster dose of a polio vaccine after virus fragments were found in sewage.