Wiping Polio Off the Face of the Planet
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House calls Volunteers make home visits to ! ght a pernicious disease Standing up to stigma Stigma can kill when it sidelines the vulnerable and the sick Red Cross Red Crescent 150 years and running ISSUE 2 . 2013 www.redcross.int The Movement celebrates 150 years of humanitarian action The last drop Wiping polio off the face of the planet THE MAGAZINE OF THE INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS AND RED CRESCENT MOVEMENT RCRC_2.13_EngNewJS_IRL.indd 31 29.07.13 15:28 The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is made up of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the National Societies. International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies The International Committee of the Red The International Federation of Red Cross National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies Cross is an impartial, neutral and independent and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the embody the work and principles of the organization whose exclusively humanitarian world’s largest volunteer-based humanitarian International Red Cross and Red Crescent mission is to protect the lives and dignity of network, reaching 150 million people each year Movement in more than 188 countries. National victims of armed con! ict and other situations of through its 187 member National Societies. Societies act as auxiliaries to the public authorities violence and to provide them with assistance. Together, the IFRC acts before, during and of their own countries in the humanitarian # eld The ICRC also endeavours to prevent su" ering by after disasters and health emergencies to meet and provide a range of services including disaster promoting and strengthening humanitarian law the needs and improve the lives of vulnerable relief, health and social programmes. During and universal humanitarian principles. Established people. It does so with impartiality as to wartime, National Societies assist the a" ected in 1863, the ICRC is at the origin of the Geneva nationality, race, gender, religious beliefs, class civilian population and support the army medical Conventions and the International Red Cross and and political opinions. Guided by Strategy 2020 services where appropriate. Red Crescent Movement. It directs and coordinates — a collective plan of action to tackle the major the international activities conducted by the humanitarian and development challenges of Movement in armed con! icts and other situations this decade — the IFRC is committed to ‘saving of violence. lives and changing minds’. The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is guided by seven Fundamental Principles: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity and universality. All Red Cross and Red Crescent activities have one central purpose: to help without discrimination those who su! er and thus contribute to peace in the world. RCRC_2.13_EngNewJS_IRL.indd ii 29.07.13 15:25 Guest editorial Building trust and wiping out polio, door by door, drop by drop HE VOLUNTEERS WHO WALK in The Afghanistan Red pairs as they go door-to-door with polio vaccine in remote parts of Af- Crescent’s 20,000 volunteers Tghanistan usually have two things in their minds: one, to protect children under 5 hold the key as gatekeepers to /Denis Balibouse years old against a deadly and crippling ! nish the business of getting REUTERS disease; and two, to protect themselves Photo: from possible security incidents. A couple rid of this crippling and fatal of months ago, a young polio ! eld worker through 47 ! xed centres and 17 mobile was caught in the cross! re and lost his life disease once and for all. health teams, especially addressing the while doing just this type of door-to-door needs of vulnerable people in emergency- vaccinations. Another polio volunteer, a 19- The result has been the building of trust, a# ected areas. year old, was killed in a separate incident buy-in and acceptance of OPV among the while returning from a security-compro- most marginalized and vulnerable com- With their presence at grass roots and their mised area after completing his daily tasks. munities. The widespread networking of neutrality vis-à-vis any political interest, surveillance systems for the detection and the Afghanistan Red Crescent’s 20,000 vol- These youngsters have lost their lives play- analysis of polio cases has also been inte- unteers can play a very concrete role: vac- ing their part in a neutral and impartial grated with surveillance for other commu- cinating children; monitoring campaign campaign aimed at saving the lives of hun- nicable diseases. Thus, the ability to make performance; and creating demand by dreds of thousands of children. The Polio inaccessible areas accessible has built a parents in the most insecure and inacces- Eradication Initiative in Afghanistan has polio legacy, which is mainstreaming es- sible areas. Their reputation for conducting made it clear from the outset that it is neu- sential functions of eradication into other community-based activities is a promising tral and impartial. It doesn’t support any ongoing public health programmes. basis for engaging the National Society political interests, nor side with any party even more actively. They hold the key as to the con" ict. The programme’s sole inter- Afghanistan’s eastern region still remains gatekeepers to advance what has been est is children, no matter where they are or a challenge. For some time this area has achieved so far and ! nish the business of who they are. not been a transmission zone. But cases of getting rid of this crippling and fatal dis- wild polio have again started appearing in ease once and for all. The programme’s guiding principle is to some inaccessible areas where only small engage communities, accomplish essential numbers of children remain unvaccinated. Our experience in Afghanistan shows that activities and achieve milestones. The re- No matter how small the number of unvac- even in an extremely di$ cult environment sults are fruitful. By the end of May this year, cinated children is, it is big enough for the — with mountainous terrain, inadequate the number of polio cases countrywide has virus to infect them. In such cases, com- infrastructure, remote communities, pov- been only two, down from 80 in 2011. munity elders and religious leaders are key erty and areas of insecurity — concerted, ‘in" uencers’ who help health workers gain long-term e# ort can lead to the near elimi- Part of this success is based on the fact that access to hard-to-reach settlements and nation of a once widespread killer. We still the polio programme has introduced in- children. These in" uencers are the game have a way to go, but I ! rmly believe that novative approaches that pair the vaccina- changers in the ! ght against polio. innovative strategies aimed at building tion e# orts with other health bene! ts. For grass-roots trust and long-term commu- example, de-worming tablets have been All we need is the gatekeepers — those nity health will allow us to declare polio a provided along with vaccination. In places with connections and roots in the com- thing of the past — not just in Afghanistan where communities are far from health munities — to engage these people of but throughout the entire globe. facilities and lack transport, community in" uence. No doubt the Afghanistan Red health centres have been set up to meet Crescent has a key role to play. With its By Dr Suraya Dalil numerous community needs, including the widespread network in 33 provinces, the Minister of Public Health oral polio vaccine (OPV). Red Crescent is carrying out activities Islamic Republic of Afghanistan ISSUE 2 . 2013 | RED CROSS RED CRESCENT | 1 RCRC_2.13_EngNewJS_IRL.indd 1 29.07.13 15:25 In brief... Movement condemns integral part of universal health care. Volunteers play an essential attacks in A fghanistan role in bridging the gap between Two separate events in Afghanistan communities and health services, recently highlighted the fact that especially in hard-to-reach and health workers and relief workers underserved populations, according still face signi! cant dangers when to the IFRC. While governments are Rinku carrying out medical work in this primarily responsible for universal war-torn country. health coverage, volunteers can On 16 April, two Afghanistan Red step in when health systems lack Crescent sta" members were killed adequate infrastructure or human REUTERS/Khurshed in a roadside attack in the Khanaqa resources. Photo: district in northern Afghanistan, as their clearly marked Red Crescent Health care under ! re Bangladesh responds to building collapse mobile clinic was travelling to More than 3,000 people were working in an eight-storey building, which There were at least 921 direct Shiberghan. Two other sta" housed numerous garment factories, when it collapsed in Savar, an attacks on health-care personnel members were injured. industrial suburb located on the outskirts of the capital Dhaka in April. and facilities in 2012, as well as Sayeed Hazarat, 32, a vaccination Volunteers and sta" from the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society on wounded or sick patients, worker, and Mohammad Najibullah, rushed to the scene and established a mobile ! rst-aid camp to assist according to a recent ICRC report, 45, the team’s driver, were providing the wounded. The volunteers worked alongside other ! rst responders, Violent Incidents A! ecting Health medical assistance to people who cutting through piles of steel, iron and concrete to rescue people buried Care, published as part of the live in remote areas with little access underneath. Movement’s Health Care in Danger to health care. Throughout the entire operation, 205 trained Red Crescent volunteers campaign. Such attacks were at One month later, on 29 May, worked round the clock in two shifts. While some searched for survivors, the heart of recent discussions in ICRC sta" member Abdul Bashir others provided ! rst aid, tried to reunite separated family members or the Mexican city of Toluca, where Khan, 50, was killed during an helped with the management of dead bodies.