Background: Provides a definition of eradication and of the disease: that it affects mostly children, results in paralysis in some cases and is preventable through vaccination.
The disease is nearly eradicated, but remains in three countries, which reported 22 cases in 2017. Eradication practices continue with 400 million vaccinations annually.
Surveillance: Virus detection activities currently take place in 70 countries to both detect new cases and gain evidence for certification of eradication.
Innovations in environmental surveillance are detailed.
Presenter: Dr. Ananda S. Bandyopadhyay, Senior Program Officer – Polio Global Development, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, USA. Dr. Ananda Bandyopadhyay considers himself a foot-soldier in the battle to eradicate diseases. Ananda grew up in Kolkata, India and completed his medical graduation from Calcutta National Medical College & Hospital (2005). He received his Master of Public Health (MPH) degree in Global Health from Harvard School of Public Health (2010). In between (2006 – 2009), he worked for the polio eradication initiative in India as a Surveillance Medical Officer with National Polio Surveillance Project, WHO and contributed to India’s successful and historic polio elimination effort and measles surveillance initiatives. He worked as an Infectious Disease Epidemiologist at Rhode Island State Department of Health, US for two years, before joining the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2012. As a Senior Program Officer at the Gates Foundation, he supports global polio vaccine research and product development initiatives across multiple countries and geographies, including South Asia, Latin America, Africa and Europe. His research is focused on generating data regarding the best use of polio vaccines to make them affordable and accessible to vulnerable and underserved populations. He is also involved in enhancing and expanding polio environmental surveillance globally with newer tools and diagnostics. His work on immunogenicity of new polio vaccines, endgame vaccination schedules and surveillance methodologies have been impactful in global policy formulation and have been published in leading peer-reviewed Journals. Ananda is also associated with advanced degree programs in public health and vaccinology in several globally renowned teaching venues as a guest faculty.