** Protecting Global Gains: Innovations in Polio Vaccinations
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October 23, 2020

Dear Advocates,

The 30-year success of the global campaign against polio, including the recent declaration (polioeradication.org/news-post/africa-kicks-out-wild-polio/) that Africa is free of wild poliovirus, is proof that some of the most deadly and harmful health challenges can be overcome at the local level.

On the eve of World Polio Day, Amref Health Africa (www.amref.org/), AVAC (www.avac.org) , and Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, TB and Malaria (www.theglobalfight.org/) are pleased to share the next edition in our series Protecting Global Gains (www.protectingglobalgains.org) with this success story of the resumption of polio immunization in Pakistan.

In March, the COVID pandemic halted polio immunization drives across Asia and Africa, resulting in tens of millions of children (polioeradication.org/news-post/polio-campaigns-resume-with-strict-covid-19-prevention-measures/) missing vaccinations. Today, local adaptation and innovation has allowed these campaigns to continue, and points the way to more effective, community-based delivery of a whole range of basic health services, such as HIV medications, family planning supplies, and bed nets. Learn more about this story at www.protectingglobalgains.org (www.protectingglobalgainsorg) and about the campaign to eradicate polio at the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (polioeradication.org) and End Polio (www.endpolio.org). You can also join the campaign (www.globalcitizen.org/en/action/end-polio-for-all-petition/) to ensure adequate funding to make
polio eradication a reality.

In the coming weeks we’ll be highlighting stories from all over the world: In Massachusetts in the US, contact tracers are supporting people who have been exposed to the coronavirus to self-isolate by offering help with food, housing and other material supports; in Benin, field workers are delivering bed nets to families’ front doors, so they can protect themselves from mosquitoes without risking exposure to COVID-19; and in Malawi, health care workers are providing 6-month supplies of HIV medicines while COVID and lockdowns are making getting to the clinic difficult.

Follow us on social media at @hivpxresearch, @theglobalfight and @Amref_Worldwide and #protectglobalgains, and consider amplifying these stories on your own social media. Visit www.protectingglobalgains.org to learn how to take action or share your story of innovation in the time of COVID.

Best,
AVAC
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