Shannon Bourret
February 25, 2009
11:55 AM
The article I read was about the Kenyan government releasing a new polio alert on Wednesday. The government has admitted that there had been a shortage of BCG and polio vaccines in Kenya since mid last year. This alert came after a confirmed case of a 4 year old little girl in Turkana North District with wild polio virus type 1. The director of public health is issuing emergency campaigns in the affected areas. Apparently, even one case of polio is considered an outbreak. He also said that there is a shortage of vaccines internationally. There have been 4 major vaccine distributors who have stopped due to inadequate quality. Also, Kenya’s agreement with UNICEF expired in December of 2007 and it took almost 6 months to get an new vaccine agreement. The World Health Organization is helping to supply Kenya with needed medical supplies. Because of intense polio campaigns, Kenya has been polio free for the last 20 years… until now.
I was very surprised when I read this article! I was not even aware that polio was still an issue in underdeveloped countries. This article really opened my eyes and showed me that even though we may not have certain issues here in the US that does not mean that other places in the world aren’t dealing with them. I am glad to see that UNICEF and the World Health Organization are contributing and putting in the effort to stop this “outbreak” in its tracks. I was also surprised to learn that there are 4 vaccine distributors around the world that have been stopped due to poor quality. To me, that is just unacceptable. With all of the resources and technology we have around the world in this day and age, it seems to me that we should be able to produce vaccines at a high quality.
link
This article was surpising to me. I guess living here in the U.S we tend to not really think of the problems like polio becuase we don't have them. I agree with you when saying that i am glad people are getting involved to help Kenya because if they're short on the vacines then the only way to help the m is to involve other countries. It is scary to think about not having enough vacines for the underdeveloped countries, i can't imagine having to go through what that little girl and the many other children have had to go through.
ReplyDeleteI also found this shocking. I had heard of other cases of polio in less developed countries (namely in sub-Saharan Africa), but to hear that they are unable to vaccinate is frightening. Polio seems like a disease of our past - something we see in museums (like iron lung machines) and it is scary to see it pop up in a country that has been free of it for two decades. This shows the importance of vaccinations, and that if the country wants to invest in human capital, it must find a way to prioritize basic healthcare, including vaccinations for children and adults.
ReplyDelete