Remarks by Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa
Bom dia, good morning, bonjour and welcome to all the journalists attending this press conference today.
I am joining you from Maputo in Mozambique, where I am wrapping up a three-day mission with my delegation. We have commended the Ministry of Health for improving campaign quality and reassured it of our commitment to future vaccination rounds to end polio and cholera.
I will provide an update on our heightened efforts to support Mozambique in eradicating these diseases and strengthening its health systems.
I thank our colleagues from the Ministry of Health for making time to be with us this morning.
I acknowledge the presence of my colleagues, notably: Dr Chris Elias, Chair of the Polio Oversight Board, President of Global Development at Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Dr Mohammed Malick Fall, UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa; Dr Mc Govern, President PolioPlus, Rotary International; Dr Omotayo Bolu, the acting Polio Eradication Branch chief for the United States CDC; and the WHO Representative in Mozambique, Severin von Xylander.
Let me, again, commend Mozambique’s leadership, the President, His Excellency Filipe Jacinto Nyusi, the Honourable Minister of Health Dr Armindo Daniel Tiago, and, very importantly, people and communities in Mozambique, along with the health workers and authorities, and key partners, for a robust government-led response.
The polio campaign in Mozambique has been effective. However, since 2022, we have observed a geographically expanding outbreak, accompanied by an increase in cases, up to 35 as of 10 February 2023—of which eight are wild polio virus cases.
Mozambique has three separate polio outbreaks: Eight cases of Wild Polio Virus Type 1 (all in Tete Province); 20 cases of circulating Vaccine Derived Polio Virus Type 1 (in Zambezia and Tete); and, seven cases of circulating Vaccine Derived Polio Virus Type 2 (in Manica, Cabo Delgado and Nampula).
With our support, Mozambique completed six campaigns targeting the under-five-year-old population. Two of these were national campaigns using the bivalent oral polio vaccine (bOPV). The most recent campaign, held in December 2022 in Zambezia and Tete, targeted children under 15 years old for the first time.
Since 30% of the confirmed polio cases are above the age of five, the campaign will raise the age of the target population in the next national rounds of 2023. This will ensure that five years and above children are protected against the virus.
Four more campaign rounds are planned in 2023, and thanks to intensified focus in Tete province, no wild polio case has been reported for over 150 days.
Under the leadership of Mozambique’s Ministry of Health, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative members are delivering training on community-based surveillance, procuring 30 million vaccine doses and 8000 vaccine carriers, expanding on-the-ground surveillance, and supporting vaccine management and social behavior change.
Also, with our support, the government successfully set up the new Emergency Operations Center in Tete Province, the most at-risk province in the region concerning the spread of wild poliovirus.
The new Emergency Operations Center provides a central location from which the Global Polio Eradication Initiative partners and national authorities from different sectors work directly and collaboratively, share real-time information, and implement a joint action plan.
The overriding priority is to implement an effective multi-sectoral emergency response by continuing to conduct large-scale, rapid, high-quality response campaigns.
This leads me to the cholera outbreak, which the government is addressing simultaneously.
Mozambique is among the ten countries currently responding to cholera outbreaks in Africa. While the triggers for cholera outbreaks, like poverty and conflict, are enduring, today’s countries face a growing threat of climate change.
Mozambique is also among the ten countries most impacted by climate change with frequent cyclones. The country currently experiences floods, conflict, population movements, and other factors that limit access to clean water, raising the risk of cholera outbreaks that occur yearly.
Mozambique currently reports cholera cases in five provinces, with 23 affected districts. From 14 September 2022 to 9 February 2023, 3983 cases and 31 deaths have been reported.
There is an acute shortage of cholera vaccines globally, posing challenges to meeting the demands of countries experiencing cholera outbreaks, including Mozambique.
However, the International Coordinating Group has recently approved 719 241 doses of Oral Cholera Vaccine for Mozambique. We will launch the vaccination campaign before the end of February. The Ministry of Health is working on a second request for additional doses to cover high-risk districts.
We have released US$ 856 000 from the Contingency Fund for Emergencies to support the provision of supplies for the clinical management of cases and to scale up multi-sectoral coordination, surveillance, and community engagement. Furthermore, we have supported the government by providing supplies and drugs from contingency stocks in Pemba and Maputo.
I commend the dedicated response teams putting incredible efforts on the frontlines to safeguard children. My delegation and I were privileged to speak to some of these in Tete during this mission.
Cross-border coordination with Malawi, Zimbabwe and Zambia is essential to ensure proper response efforts.
We can leverage the lessons of the polio outbreak response over the last 12 months to reduce and manage disease risks.
While Oral Cholera Vaccine is a critical tool, concerted efforts are needed to ensure access to cholera case management and emergency WASH. These efforts are required to control cholera outbreaks and prevent their occurrence in high-risk areas.
Advocating for long-term prevention funding is important; engaging with the Global Task Force for Cholera Control and adopting post-cholera and polio mitigation measures are equally essential.
Such long-term post-campaign mitigation measures will ensure that current and future emergency preparedness and response opportunities align with the primary health care agenda and capacities developed at the provincial, district and health facility levels.
I’ll now hand it over to the moderator before taking questions from the media.
Thank you very much again for joining us.