Geneva, 
15 March 2000

Joint UNICEF - WHO Polio Eradication Strategy Meeting

At the beginning of this year, the circulation of wild polio virus continues in only 30 countries, compared with 50 at the beginning of 1999. There has also been a marked reduction in the intensity and biodiversity of virus transmission in the remaining countries.

You have brought the goal of a polio-free world within reach. You have risen to this challenge and in some cases, for long periods of time, it has taken up half your work day. You have my personal thanks for what you have achieved. And you have my encouragement to continue, with our strong support.

We have convened this extraordinary meeting, with all of you who play such a key role, to reaffirm the high priority of this initiative, to convey to you that all of us: you, me, and our colleagues in countries will be held accountable for – and will take great pride in – achieving polio eradication. Towards this goal, I want to learn from you how we can even better strengthen the partnership between WHO and UNICEF so that one plus one amounts to more than two. I also want to hear from you what support you need from your organizations and executive leaders to be successful.

For polio eradication there is an unprecedented level of inter-agency cooperation and an increasingly innovative approach to our working arrangements. In that sense polio eradication is playing a major role in the UN system reform process.

Close cooperation between WHO and UNICEF is fundamental to the success of this initiative – and nowhere more so than at country level. We expect the country offices of both organizations to be fully engaged in the planning and implementation of acceleration activities. It is vital that you work closely with your Ministry of Health to carry out the necessary activities to eradicate polio, and bring any obstacles that you encounter to our personal attention.

We recognize that the different cultures, priorities and policies of our two organizations can sometimes hamper our cooperation as much as our shared goals for women and child health bring us together.

Carol and I wrote a New Year’s message which urged leaders in your countries of assignment to give their full cooperation to the global effort. National leaders are the owners of this initiative and must monitor the progress of polio eradication. In countries that remain polio-endemic, this "ownership by national leaders" must be translated into action. That is where you come in, ensuring they provide the multi-sectoral support that was essential to the success in the Americas.

We have a window of opportunity to eradicate polio. We have stayed true to the target set in 1988 to eradicate the disease by the end of the year 2000. We have used that to motivate and mobilize at all levels. If we fail to seize the moment, the goal will become much more elusive, much more expensive to accomplish.

The partnership which has formed to eradicate polio represents the most extraordinary support for a public health initiative in history. The Rotary contribution alone, 500 million US dollars by the time the job is finished, plus advocacy support and volunteers, is unprecedented in public health. Through polio eradication, we are demonstrating the power of partnerships for public health. The future of major public health initiatives, including Roll Back Malaria, Stop TB, and the Tobacco Free Initiative, are dependent on your success.

I want to hear what else you need us to do. You are in a unique position to tell us what needs to be done to bring polio to an end. Not just for the sprint to 2000 but also the Mop-up and Certification Phase through to 2005.

That phase will be especially challenging when we will have to spend more time, more dollars and more effort than ever to secure the gains we have made to date.

We have technicians, epidemiologists, virologists who provide guidelines. But you are the practitioners with first-hand experience of this initiative in action and the detailed understanding of countries where we must work.

In the coming months, we will expect you to make this your first priority and we will rely on you to guide our efforts to do all that is possible to interrupt transmission in your country.

We are fully committed to mobilizing resources, staff, vaccine, political commitment – and we are prepared to do this not just from our respective agency headquarters but also in the field.

Already Carol and I have travelled to priority countries where we felt our presence would make a difference and, time permitting, we are ready to do so again. I have been billed as the General of the WHO army. You are the officers. I need your advice today so that we can do what is necessary to forever rid the world of polio.

Thank you.