Another $1 billion needed to wipe out polio: WHO

By Laura MacInnis

GENEVA (Reuters) - Another $1 billion and at least two more years are needed to rid the world of polio, a top World Health Organization (WHO) official said.

The disease, that can cause permanent paralysis in children, retains a hold in parts of India, Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan, the only countries that have so far failed to stop its spread through vaccinations.

Each of the four reported an increase in infections last year, raising the global total slightly to 1,985, from 1,979 a year before, and further eluding success in the nearly 20-year drive to wipe out the virus.

David Heymann, an epidemiologist who leads the WHO's polio eradication unit, said there was no debate within the United Nations agency over whether to keep aiming for total eradication of polio, despite setbacks.

"It's not even a question. We will finish polio," he told Reuters in an interview ahead of a high-level meeting on Wednesday on the next steps in the global campaign.

The Geneva meeting brings together Nigerian, Pakistani, Indian and Afghan leaders, international donors and health experts.

Scaling back vaccinations before the world is certified polio-free would inevitably cause the disease to spread from its now-limited strongholds and infect scores of children, he said.

While the 2006 infection rate was four times that of 2001 -- when the global case count was at its lowest -- it remained far below the 350,000 annual toll when the Global Polio Eradication Initiative was launched in 1988.

NO NEW TARGET DATE

Another $1 billion would be needed from donors to finish the job, pushing the program's final price tag above $6 billion, Heyamnn said. The WHO has a $575 million shortfall for its polio efforts in 2007-2008.

The Geneva meeting is not expected to set a new target date.

Heymann said the program's partners, which include UNICEF, Rotary International and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, would outline steps needed to stop polio in two years, including better immunity coverage and community networks.

Ultimate success would require some 90 percent of children in affected areas getting immunized, he said.

In India, where polio infections rose tenfold last year to 672, Heymann said vaccination drives have been accelerated to protect more babies and to give more immunity-boosting doses to children in densely-populated areas.

Nigeria, which made up more than half of global polio cases in 2006, "is on the right track" thanks to a new program where medicines for a variety of ailments and bednets are given to parents bringing children to get the vaccine, Heymann said.