June 12, 2024
On On 14 May 2024, the outbreak of wild poliovirus in Malawi and Mozambique – which paralyzed nine children across the countries between February and August 2022 – was officially stopped. The virus, which is related to a strain originally found in Pakistan, could not recover a base in the Africa region.
This incredible achievement was made possible by the tireless efforts of health workers and authorities in five countries – Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Over two years, with the support of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), they reached more than 50 million children through mass, coordinated vaccination campaigns and established 15 new sewage surveillance sites to rapidly detect and respond to any trace of polio.
But that wasn’t all. Gender norms, roles and relationships that can influence a health worker’s ability to access each household and guide a family’s decision to vaccinate their child were examined at each step. From planning campaigns to putting the vaccine in children’s mouths, recognizing and addressing these nuances has been key to ensuring every child is protected from this devastating disease.
For example, in Malawi, the program worked closely with the Ministry of Gender to use a new tool that was used for the first time during the COVID-19 pandemic – the Rapid gender assessment tool. This tool analyzes the different effects of a disease on women and men, with a particular focus on disadvantaged groups such as women living in rural areas, to ensure that policies and interventions around outbreaks provide equal protection to all . The insights from this tool proved vital to the outbreak of wild polio in southern Africa.
The Ministry of Gender and GPEI used a gender-based approach to address cultural barriers to access to vaccination. This strategy, informed by the Rapid Gender Assessment Tool and COVID-19 data, faced key gaps. This included ensuring plans took into account the different needs and roles of men and women in the community and monitoring vaccination rates by gender to identify and address any disparities in reaching boys and girls.
Gender-balanced vaccination teams navigated local customs to ensure access to all households. Community meetings in markets, schools and local health facilities further encouraged dialogue with both men and women, ensuring that all were informed and empowered to participate in vaccination campaigns.
Recognizing the importance of a data-driven approach, the country team developed additional forms of monitoring and reporting to improve data collection. These forms captured information about the gender not only of the children vaccinated but also of the polio teams working at all levels, including decision-making, campaign implementation, monitoring and supervision.
Gender-focused approaches like these have helped the program make significant strides against the virus across southern Africa.
Malawi, Mozambique and many countries still face another threat – the variant polio virus – and as long as any type of polio exists, every child remains at risk. The tools and tactics used to combat the wild polio epidemic will be invaluable as countries work to permanently end all forms of the virus.