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Hong Kong has maintained impressive high-quality immunisation services and certification standards on surveillance for acute flaccid paralysis, despite extraordinary demands put on the health services system by the recent SARS outbreak.
This is one of the main conclusions of the Ninth Meeting of the Regional Commission for the Certification of Poliomyelitis Eradication in the Western Pacific, which took place at the World Health Organisation Regional Office in Manila last month.
In a letter to HK National Committee for the Certification of Wild Poliovirus Eradication chairman Professor Leung Nai-kong, the commission's head Dr Anthony Adams commended the committee for its "continuous involvement in and support for activities to sustain poliomyelitis-free status".
Healthcare staff, parents key to success
Director of Health Dr Lam Ping-yan said the success was attributable to efforts by healthcare professionals and parents, as well as WHO's technical support and other partner agencies.
Poliomyelitis was a public health problem causing significant morbidity and mortality in the 1950s and 1960s. With the introduction of the oral polio vaccine in 1963, the number of cases has dropped dramatically.
The last case of poliomyelitis due to wild type polio virus was reported in 1983 and the last case of vaccine-associated poliomyelitis occurred in 1995.
To meet the WHO's criteria for documentation of polio-free status, the committee was established in 1996 to oversee related activities.
As acute poliomyelitis can present with symptoms of acute flaccid paralysis, a highly sensitive surveillance system has been set up to detect, report and investigate all cases of acute flaccid paralysis according to WHO recommendations.
Efforts to sustain polio-free status will continue
Dr Lam said the Government, working closely with other partners, will continue Hong Kong's commitment to polio eradication through surveillance of acute flaccid paralysis, high immunisation coverage through polio vaccination and effective laboratory support services.
Hong Kong is one of the 37 countries and areas of the WHO's Western Pacific Region in which the transmission of indigenous wild poliovirus has been successfully interrupted since 2000.
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