13 February 2025, Muscat, Oman – The Ministry of Health of the Sultanate of Oman, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) and other Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) partners, inaugurated a new poliovirus laboratory in Muscat today. The laboratory will focus on testing wastewater samples from Oman and other countries in the Region. The inauguration ceremony was held under the auspices of H.E. Dr Said bin Hareb Al Lamki, Undersecretary for Health Affairs at the Ministry of Health of Oman, and attended by WHO Representative to Oman Dr Jean Jabbour, dignitaries and Ministry of Health officials. The state-of-the-art mobile Poliovirus Environmental Surveillance Diagnostic Laboratory, supported by WHO, will complement Oman’s ongoing efforts to test stool samples from children with acute flaccid paralysis (AFP), or polio-like symptoms, from Oman and neighbouring countries, including Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. With the introduction of the new...