Katie Allen (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the House:

(1) notes that:

(a) the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) leads the world's efforts to end polio, bringing together Rotary International, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and many others including in the private sector with a common objective to eradicate polio;

(b) when the GPEI commenced, more than 350,000 cases of polio paralysed and killed children in 125 countries annually;

(c) in 2021, polio is 99 per cent eradicated and wild polio remains in only two countries, Pakistan and Afghanistan, with the entire African continent certified as polio-free on 25 August 2020;

(d) this success has been driven by the GPEl's extensive worldwide community-driven vaccination program, the largest of its kind in the world, to safeguard children from polio worldwide;

(e) safe and effective polio vaccines have been the single most important factor in achieving 99 per cent eradication of polio so far;

(f) Australia has been a strong supporter of polio eradication for more than three decades and has invested more than $135 million in polio eradication over that time;

(g) 2022 will be a critical year for polio eradication as the GPEI sets out its strategy to achieve polio eradication by 2026, and that this will be a key opportunity for Australian leadership; and

(h) Australian organisations lead the effort to see continued support for polio eradication from Australia, including Rotary International Australia, UNICEF Australia, Global Citizen and Results Australia;

(2) acknowledges that:

(a) the work of the GPEI is a testament to the great power of vaccines and that the equitable and timely access to those vaccines is critical to the program's success;

(b) progress made toward polio eradication is facing new challenges with the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan impeding vaccination efforts and increasing the risk of new polio outbreaks;

(c) additional measures will be required to manage the risk of polio in Afghanistan in an effort to ensure that no widespread polio outbreaks occur;

(d) Australia is a long-term champion of polio eradication along with many other Commonwealth nations including the United Kingdom and Canada, who all share an interest in ensuring the success of the polio program and its important contribution to global health security; and

(e) the current parliaments of Australia and other countries have the opportunity to be recognised as the elected representatives who ensured that polio was completely eradicated; and

(3) calls on the Government to continue its strong ongoing support for the GPEI.

Battling a pandemic is not an easy task. We're learning this more every day as we deal with yet another variant of concern in the form of omicron in COVID. But this is not the first time that a coordinated global health effort has successfully responded to a highly infectious disease in the community. For a masterclass in an extraordinary global response to a significant health threat, we need only look to the story of polio.

In the early 20th century polio cases surged in the United States, leading to widespread outbreaks which quickly spread around the world. Australia was no exception; more than 1,000 people died of polio in Australia during the first half of the 1950s alone. It has haunted the childhood of many, and left as many as 40,000 Australians with lifelong paralysis. In 1952, a successful vaccine was finally found but a global response was needed to bring polio under control. To that effect, in 1988 the World Health Organization founded the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. The newly founded organisation took on the ambitious aim of eradicating polio worldwide. Excellent vaccine uptake did well to control the spread of polio in developed countries, and in 1994 polio was declared eradicated from the Americas. Australia achieved the same milestone at the turn of the century in 2000. However, a greater challenge remained. The world's most vulnerable people were still exposed to the ravages of polio.

Australia has been there from the beginning, stepping up to provide financial and technical support to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative as it set out on the largest community driven vaccination program in history. The initiative developed a strategy and implemented vaccination drives across the world. A broad coalition of community members took up the task of immunising the world's children against polio. As a Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary International, I am particularly proud of the hundreds of thousands of Rotarians worldwide who have raised money and contributed more than $1 billion to the effort so far. As co-chair of the Parliamentary Friends of UNICEF, I know firsthand the extraordinary contribution UNICEF has made to polio eradication. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative leads the world's efforts to end polio, bringing together not just Rotary International and UNICEF, but the World Health Organization, Global Citizen and, here in Australia, Results Australia. Of course, there are many others, including in the private sector, with the common objective of eradicating polio. When the Global Polio Eradication Initiative commenced, more than 350,000 cases of polio paralysed and killed children in 125 countries annually. Fast-forward to today, and in 2021 polio is 99 per cent eradicated. Polio remains in only two countries, Pakistan and Afghanistan, with the entire African continent certified as polio-free just last year on 25 August. It is an amazing achievement.

Some had considered the challenge of polio eradication, particularly in India, insurmountable. Nonetheless, with the extraordinary dedication of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative and its partners, vaccination drives continued. In fact, in a single day in 1998, more than 134 million children in India were immunised against polio. The pay-off wasn't instant. In fact, it wasn't until 2014 that India and the rest of South-East Asia were finally declared polio-free. But now, in 2021, we have almost completely eradicated polio. What's more, we are seeing only a handful of cases in those two countries where it remains, Afghanistan and Pakistan. We are remarkably close to finally ending polio forever.

Australia has much to be proud of in the fight for polio eradication. We stood side-by-side with global health organisations. Come next year, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative will set out the final stages in this great journey to achieve complete eradication of polio by 2026. It means a major opportunity for Australia to reaffirm its commitment to polio eradication. As much of an achievement as polio eradication will be, it is also a rare chance to affirm the power vaccines have to change the world. As parliamentarians, we can all support this.

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