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Gates Package, p.550 · gates:exh:00190
Page text: p.550 · original PDF
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- Vaccines
is also using high-resolution satellite images to create even more
detailed maps. And since the new maps show the true distances
between settlements, managers can now allocate vaccinators
efficiently by giving them a full day's work but no more.
Another problem was that some teams were simply not going
to the places they were assigned to go. To help address this, the
program is piloting the use of phones equipped with a Global
Positioning System (GPS) application for the vaccinators to
carry. Tracks are downloaded from the phone toa
laptop at the
end of the day so managers can see the route the vaccinators
followed and compare it to the route they were assigned. This
helps ensure that areas that were missed can be revisited so
children are not left unprotected from polio.
The Nigerian government and its partners will need to keep
working closely to adjust tools and approaches like these
to measure coverage in Northern Nigeria more accurately.
But progress is definitely being made, and more children are
being reached.
The
insecurity in
Pakistan
and Afghanistan
represents
another challenge for the campaign. In December nine polio
vaccinators in Pakistan were murdered. It is unimaginable
few MAP OF DuNbuBUS Waab 20
In Nigeria, satellite imagery is being used to
improve upon hand-drawn maps, helping
health workers reach previously overlooked
villages with vaccines. The yellow dots
indicate areas visited by vaccinators.
to me why health workers, whose only goal was to improve children's health and end polio, were
targeted. In my eyes the victims are heroes, and the best way to respect their memory is to finish the
job they gave their lives for. The polio program will continue, with additional efforts to improve the
safety of workers and to increase the support of community leaders. The global polio community
is now finalizing a detailed plan that I believe should allow us to finish the job of polio eradication
within the next six years.
'The measurement systems put in place by the eradication initiative will be invaluable for other health
care activities, including routine vaccination of infants, which means the legacy of polio eradication
will live beyond stopping a disease that once paralyzed over 400,000 children every year.
Abhealth worker gives polio drops to a child in Pakistan (Hyderabad, Pakistan, 2012).