Polio Eradication: laboratory containment phase 1
The WHO Western Pacific Region not only has stayed free of wild poliovirus in its populations since certification in October 2000, but also has identified all wild poliovirus infectious and potentially infectious materials stored in biomedical laboratories. This is the important other half of polio eradication. All 37 countries and areas in the Region have completed surveys of relevant biomedical laboratories and established national inventories (see details here: WER No. 37, 2009, 84 and MMWR 2009 / 58(35);975-978) following the requirements laid out for phase 1 wild poliovirus laboratory containment in the WHO Global Action Plan, second edition (GAP II). All countries and areas documented their activities and results in standardized quality assurance reports, which were presented to the Regional Commission for the Certification of Poliomyelitis Eradication in the Western Pacific (RCC). The process was not without challenges; some countries like China and Japan had to deal with huge numbers of laboratories under the jurisdiction of a large range of government agencies outside the ministry of health. Others, including Australia and the Philippines, had to identify ways to appropriately involve the private and educational sectors. First-time identification of vaccine-derived polioviruses in 2000-2001 and subsequent classification as potentially infectious materials forced several countries to re-do survey activities conducted prior to these events. With final reports received from China and Japan at the end of 2008, the RCC declared phase 1 wild poliovirus laboratory containment complete for the whole of the Western Pacific Region. A total of 77 260 laboratories were included in the survey; the number of laboratories storing relevant materials was substantially reduced from 107 to 45 (two in Australia, 27 in China, 15 in Japan and one in the Republic of Korea). In order to protect investments made into this comprehensive exercise the RCC requested all countries to maintain a National Containment Focal Point to keep the national database and inventory current and to prepare the country for phase 2 requirements one year after detection of wild poliovirus anywhere in the world.
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