Wild Polio

That’s the name they give these days to polio caught from someone else. Apparently it is very infectious, and as we all know can have horrible results. So when wild polio was detected in Brazzaville, a mere 1000 metres from Kinshasa, alarm bells rang.

Readers will know that public administration is not the Congo’s strong point. In brief nothing works well, so when the authorities mentioned, in quite a causal way, that they would mount a polio vaccination campaign we all raised an eyebrow and muttered the usual sceptical noises.

I first realised something was actually happening when someone in the office, a week later, said “They’re here. Everyone must go.” I must say, my first reaction was that this was some sort of money-making trick. But there they were: two young people with little satchels bearing the UNICEF logo, dishing out polio vaccine. I was one of the few not to need it, as I had had one before coming.

Two days later in the evening we were at one of the big Lebanese owned supermarkets. Just outside there was another team, quietly offering vaccinations to everyone who came by. They came to the house, they went to factories and building sites, they stood at the ports. They went to houses, schools and hospitals in rich and poor areas. They were everywhere. And when you met them, they were so polite and helpful it was a pleasure to talk to them.

Two things completely amazed me. The first was the way in which the campaign was organised, with a minimum of slogans but a maximum of face-to-face contact, which is what really works. The second was the sheer scale of the operation, and the speed at which it had been organised.

As I understand it, the young people carrying around the kits were all volunteers, recruited by the Red Cross and other NGOs. I imagine the churches were also involved. Each volunteer received a token payment to cover transport costs and that was all.

Whatever method was used, there can be no doubt about the results. Within two weeks most residents of Kinshasa, more than 8 million of them, had been vaccinated. The wild polio epidemic was stopped in its tracks.

UNICEF and the WHO were involved, and many international donor groups supported the operation. Moreover, polio vaccination has the delightful simplicity of not requiring jabs. But it worked and it was a Congolese operation, so if anyone makes a sneering comment about how they couldn’t organise a piss-up in a brewery, you know they are wrong.