End Polio Now Update

There are just a few weeks to go until the globally synchronized switch from the trivalent to bivalent oral polio vaccine.  April 2016 will see 155 countries and territories stop using the trivalent oral polio vaccine (OPV) and switch to the bivalent version of the vaccine, in a single two week period.  This will have an important impact on progress towards achieving the eradication of all polioviruses worldwide.  With the eradication of wild poliovirus type 2, the type 2 component of the oral polio vaccine is no longer needed.  This is good news for children and the polio eradication programme, as the type 2 component of the oral polio vaccine has caused 90% of circulating Vaccine Derived Poliovirus (VDPV) outbreaks in recent years. By switching from the trivalent vaccine (which contains protection against all three strains) to the bivalent vaccine which no longer contains type 2, we therefore withdraw the main cause of VDPVs and take the programme an important step forward towards eradication.