WHO launching Polio Eradication Campaign in Pakistan using PharmaJet Precision Delivery System

PharmaJet®, a company engineering precision delivery systems that overcome the challenges of vaccine delivery, has announced their support for the World Health Organization’s (WHO) polio eradication campaigns in Pakistan starting in May 2023. PharmaJet is providing an additional 5 million syringes to the WHO for a supplemental immunization activity (SIA) campaign which will be conducted in two phases in the Southern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Province located in the north-west region of Pakistan, and in the Quetta Block located in Northern Balochistan Province near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The PharmaJet Tropis Precision Delivery System™ (PDS) was selected based on its proven cost savings, ease of training, and improved immunization coverage benefits.

The WHO previously introduced needle-free intradermal delivery of inactivated polio vaccine (ID-IPV) in Pakistan and Somalia using the PharmaJet Tropis ID PDS for the immunization of millions of children. Published results from Pakistan and recent survey results from Somalia showed that the Tropis PDS is an effective and preferred solution for polio immunization campaigns that can help increase campaign coverage by over 18%. An ongoing study evaluating Tropis use for Routine Immunization Administration of IPV has been previously reported.

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative has two key goals: Goal One is to permanently interrupt all poliovirus transmission in the final WPV-endemic countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan, and Goal Two is to stop circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV) transmission and prevent outbreaks in non-endemic countries. In Pakistan, all recent polio cases are now concentrated in just 3 districts of a single province. These districts are characterized by inaccessibility, insecurity, and a range of protracted and complex humanitarian emergencies.

“Very much like COVID, as long as we have polio transmission anywhere, potentially everywhere is at risk. To finish the job, we need to have an absolute, unrelenting focus on what we consider to be the most consequential geographies,” said Aidan O’Leary, Director, Polio Eradication at the WHO.

Chris Cappello, President and CEO, PharmaJet commented, “We are pleased to continue our collaboration with the WHO for over 5 years with a common goal of global eradication of polio. Now, with over 12 million needle-free syringes provided across multiple polio vaccination campaigns, we have confidence that our Precision Delivery Systems are safe, effective, and can be rapidly deployed in response to emergencies anywhere on the globe. We remain ready and committed to quickly supporting future immunization campaigns for eradication and new pandemics as needed.”