Africa will not fulfill its goal of eradicating polio by the end of 2005, World Health Organization ( WHO) officials said Tuesday.

"Africa is expected to eradicate polio by the end of 2005, but with two months remaining, that goal is not likely to be attained, " said Stella Anyangwe, WHO representative in Zambia.

In fact, this is the second time Africa is failing to achieve its goal in eradicating polio. The first failed deadline is in year 2000.

Though intensive immunization campaigns since 2000 have seen at least 175 million children vaccinated against the disease, Africa as a continent is still quite far from being declared polio free.

In 2003, a new outbreak of wild poliovirus transmission was detected in the Northern State of Nigeria. The disease has since spread to 11 West and Central African countries, thanks partly to the anti vaccination campaign in parts of Nigeria.

Three regions, namely, America, Western Pacific and Europe have been so far declared polio free by WHO. The global goal for polio eradication is 2005.

Africa, however, has not lost all its hope and actually made quite some progress.

According to Luis Gomes Sambo, WHO's regional director for Africa, the number of African countries with indigenous wild poliovirus transmission was reduced from 11 in 2000 to only two by the end of 2002, both of which have remained endemic to date.

A country or region has to be free of indigenous wild poliovirus transmission for three years before it could be declared polio free, according to WHO standards.

Since 1998, when the Africa Regional Certification Commission ( ARCC) was established by WHO to guide Africa's journey towards a polio-free continent, National Certification Committee and National Polio Expert Committee have been established in African countries, while 33 out of the 46 countries have functional national task force for polio containment.

Most countries have also put into place an effective national surveillance system backed up by a regional laboratory networks, said Sambo in his message to the ARCC annual meeting that opened in Zambian capital Lusaka Tuesday.

The meeting will examine reports by seven countries, namely, Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Acceptance of their reports will be the first step for these countries to be declared polio free.

The ARCC also examined reports of eight other countries in 2004, though only three countries have their report accepted.

Source: Xinhua