About us
The polio eradication programme brings together regional-level expertise to drive eradication efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan and to support other countries in EMR to remain polio-free.
WHO’s regional polio eradication programme works to respond to polio outbreaks and drive eradication efforts across 22 countries, with a particular focus on Afghanistan and Pakistan, the world’s only countries with endemic wild poliovirus. It works closely with the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), a public private partnership, whose aim is to complete the eradication and containment of all wild, vaccine-related and Sabin polioviruses, such that no child ever again suffers paralytic poliomyelitis.
The regional programme is headed by Dr Hamid Syed Jafari, the Director of Polio Eradication in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.
Policy
WHO supports governance bodies and technical advisory groups to generate policy on vaccination programmes, polio transition and health advocacy commitments and actions, and technical guidance for countries working to eradicate polio.