Polio outbreak worsened by “inaction” of South Sudan leaders: US

October 24, 2024 (UBA) – Many root causes of polio and other disease outbreaks are exacerbated by the inaction of South Sudanese leaders, the United States embassy said on Thursday.

The embassy, in a statement extended to Sudan Tribune, said while cross-border conflict has contributed to continued polio transmission in the country, failure to pay health worker salaries and decades-long dependence on donors to deliver basic healthcare have led to continued disease outbreaks.

“We call on the South Sudan Transitional Government to respond to the needs of the South Sudanese people by using public revenue transparently to vaccinate children against polio and other preventable diseases,” partly reads the statement.

The US has, through its aid arm (USAID), supported the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), providing $46 million to detect and interrupt transmission through intensive community and environmental surveillance, outbreak investigation and response in South Sudan for two decades.

It said USAID delivered polio vaccines as part of a broader vaccine preventable disease control, adding that Polio campaigns funded by the US and other donors have helped keep the virus in check.

Polio, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus. It invades the nervous system and can cause total paralysis in a matter of hours. The disease is transmitted through contaminated water or food, or contact with an infected person.

(ST)