​With only 44 per cent of its population vaccinated, Papua New Guinea faces a renewed public health threat after confirmation of a polio outbreak, prompting Australia to step in with emergency vaccine funding. The low coverage has created a fertile ground for the virus to resurface, with the World Health Organisation confirming the presence of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 in two children earlier this month. Australia’s Pacific Minister Pat Conroy announced a contribution of AU$5 million (K13 million) to WHO to deliver vaccines to as many as three million children in PNG. “Vaccination is the most effective way to prevent the spread of polio,” he said, emphasising the need for strong bilateral cooperation. Initial testing and detection efforts have focused on Lae, where the first samples were collected. Additionally, traces of the virus were found in Port Moresby’s wastewater systems, especially in poorly sanitised neighbourhoods. This marks PNG’s first polio outbreak since 2018, reigniting concerns about gaps in the country’s public health defences. Though polio infections often go undetected due to lack of symptoms, the disease mainly targets children and, in rare cases, causes paralysis or death. Decades of global eradication efforts have drastically reduced polio cases worldwide, with the virus now only endemic in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Also read Marape Government’s GST Exemption On 13 Essential Goods To Cost K600 Million World Leaders Confirm Attendance For PNG’s 50th Independence Anniversary PNG Currency Collapse? Kina Continues To Slide Under IMF Reforms Read more on: https://www.pngfacts.com/news/australia-responds-to-png-polio-crisis-with-emergency-vaccine-funding