Polio experts have been at the forefront of South Sudan’s COVID-19 pandemic response since before the first case was reported on 5 April. Drawing on their experiences in the country’s polio eradication work, more than 300 polio team members are now helping to strengthen disease surveillance in communities and health facilities as well as contact tracing and data management.
South Sudan’s polio experts have honed their skills since 2014 when the World Health Organization (WHO) declared polio a public health emergency of international concern in several African countries. The critical work of the polio response in South Sudan and across the continent led to Africa being declared free of wild polio in August of this year.
This success came after overcoming many challenges including the displacement of populations, difficult terrain, and accessibility to communities, with air transport the main mode of movement in some areas, which thus increases the operational cost of campaigns and surveillance. While South Sudan faces the same challenges in its battle against COVID-19, they are more easily navigated with strategies already developed to fight polio. For example, mobile phone applications originally developed for health workers to use during the polio outbreak response were adapted to help the polio responders trace COVID-19 contacts.
Polio specialists are also keenly aware of the need to juggle attention to all priority diseases despite the public’s focus on the pandemic. Thanks to the network of responders from partner organizations and WHO, there have been only 55 deaths reported and 2 817 cases in 24 South Sudan counties to date.
WHO thanks all donors and partners who have contributed to the Strategic Preparedness and Response Fund to combat COVID-19. A special appreciation goes to Member States and other contributors who provided flexible funds, making it possible for WHO to deliver a coherent, strategic and broad response.