| Polio |
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In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the viral disease was reported to have returned in the country where it has been crippling more people in Goma and other areas as civil strife in the country continues. Fighting the disease in the war-torn Central African nation, where it is normal to see children in makeshift wheelchairs and clutches, has been left to small households who provide very little assistance to polio-infected children displaced by war. This is in spite of the fact that polio has been practically wiped from the face of the globe. Although it is still endemic in northern Nigeria, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, the cases have been reducing and there were fewer than 1 900 cases of the disease around the world in 2005, compared with 350 000 in 1988. The World Health Organization recently applauded South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland for acquiring a polio-free status. Although the DRC is yet to achieve the same, cross-border trade and migration put polio-free countries at risk. This can clearly be attested from the 2003, WHO-spearheaded efforts to eradicate the crippling and potentially lethal disease which were set back as it spilled from the endemic areas -- particularly Nigeria -- into a total of 23 other countries. There still are challenges remaining in Africa and other areas where polio is classed as an epidemic. Community acceptance and participation in the vaccination process is still difficult in some rural areas. An increase in rapid response and prompt investigation needs to be prioritised by the WHO in order to tackle cases of polio. Eliminating polio everywhere will require global cooperation on several fronts, including lowering the cost for poor countries to vaccinate with inactivated polio vaccine. 
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