A public health achievement under adversity: the eradication of poliomyelitis from Peru, 1991

A public health achievement under adversity: the eradication of poliomyelitis from Peru, 1991

Authors: Deepak Sobti, Marcos Cueto, Yuan He

Abstract

The fight to achieve global eradication of poliomyelitis continues. Although native transmission of poliovirus was halted in the Western Hemisphere by the early 1990s, and only a few cases have been imported in the past few years, much of Latin America’s story remains to be told. Peru conducted a successful flexible, or flattened, vertical campaign in 1991. The initial disease-oriented programs began to collaborate with community-oriented primary health care systems, thus strengthening public-private partnerships and enabling the common goal of poliomyelitis eradication to prevail despite rampant terrorism, economic instability, and political turmoil. Committed leaders in Peru’s Ministry of Health, the Pan American Health Organization, and Rotary International, as well as dedicated health workers who acted with missionary zeal, facilitated acquisition of adequate technologies, coordinated work at the local level, and increased community engagement, despite sometimes being unable to institutionalize public health improvements.

Link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25322297/

Figures

See this image and copyright information in PMC

Roger Zapata examines Luis Fermín Tenorio Cortez in rural Pichanaki, Peru. 1991. Courtesy of Roger Zapata.

See this image and copyright information in PMC

Boy showing his painted finger, representing a vaccinated child. Date unknown. Courtesy of Roger Zapata.4

See this image and copyright information in PMC

Letter from Peruvian Rotary President Gustavo Gross to Peruvian President M. A. T. Caparas offering financial support. Lima, Peru. 1986. Courtesy of Gustavo Gross.

See this image and copyright information in PMC

A typical poster used in Peru to garner community support for the vaccination campaign circa June 1991. Courtesy of Roger Zapata/Pan American Health Organization.

‍