Africa on Brink of Becoming Polio-Free — WHO Hails Landmark Progress Driven by Innovation and Collaboration

As the world celebrates World Polio Day 2025, the World Health Organization (WHO) has commended Africa’s extraordinary progress toward eradicating polio, calling it a “historic milestone” made possible through digital innovation, regional collaboration, and stronger health systems.

In his message marking the occasion, Dr. Mohamed Janabi, WHO Regional Director for Africa, said this year’s theme — “End Polio: Every Child, Every Vaccine, Everywhere” — underscores the global resolve to ensure that no child is left unvaccinated, regardless of geography or circumstance.

Dr. Janabi credited Africa’s 2025 success to strengthened cross-border partnerships, enhanced surveillance, and the use of advanced digital tools that have improved efficiency, transparency, and reach.

“Between January and October 2025, 15 African countries reached nearly 200 million children with at least one dose of polio vaccine through supplementary immunisation rounds,” Janabi revealed.
“Thirteen of these countries coordinated synchronised campaigns, even in highly challenging environments.”

One major highlight came from the Horn of Africa, where Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia jointly vaccinated over 18 million children in two consecutive rounds. Similarly, in April 2025, health ministers from the Lake Chad Basin and Sahel region launched a coordinated drive to immunise 83 million children across borders.

These collective actions have yielded measurable results. WHO data show that the number of African countries with active type 2 poliovirus outbreaks has dropped from 24 in 2024 to 14 in 2025, while total virus detections declined by 54 percent. Notably, Madagascar declared the end of its circulating variant poliovirus type 1 outbreak in May 2025, following months of intensive surveillance and response.

Dr. Janabi highlighted that Africa’s gains were underpinned by improved laboratory and surveillance systems. By mid-2025, 11 WHO-supported laboratories had expanded genomic sequencing capacity, with six now piloting advanced molecular techniques. Uganda’s Sanger sequencing facility also earned WHO accreditation earlier this year, boosting regional capacity to detect and track virus variants.

Environmental surveillance — which tests wastewater and sewage for traces of poliovirus — now operates in 98 percent of countries in the WHO African Region, providing early warnings that enable swift response before outbreaks spread.

Technology has equally revolutionized field operations. Over 850,000 frontline vaccinators now receive digital payments via mobile-money platforms, with 95 percent paid within 10 days of each campaign’s conclusion — a reform that has improved accountability and motivation among workers.

The WHO AFRO GIS Centre’s geospatial mapping tools have also been instrumental in locating previously unreached populations, including nomadic and border communities, ensuring equitable vaccine coverage.

Despite these achievements, Dr. Janabi cautioned that the final phase of polio eradication remains fragile, citing ongoing challenges such as insecurity, declining routine immunization coverage, and vaccine hesitancy.

“To truly end polio, countries must sustain cross-border coordination, reach zero-dose and under-immunized children, expand surveillance and sequencing capacity, and maintain high-quality outbreak response,” he stressed.

He emphasized that ending polio is not merely about stopping virus transmission but also about building resilient health systems.

“The last mile is always the hardest — but it is also the most important,” Janabi said. “On this World Polio Day, let us renew our resolve to reach every child, with every vaccine, everywhere, and consign polio to history forever.”

Opinion Nigeria News