Regional Subcommittee for polio eradication and outbreaks

Regional Subcommittee for Polio Eradication and Outbreaks

In the Eastern Mediterranean Region, polio eradication is a regional emergency. Afghanistan and Pakistan are the only 2 countries in which wild poliovirus remains endemic. Several countries have been affected by polio outbreaks caused by emergence or international spread of vaccine-derived poliovirus.

To ultimately achieve a polio-free world, Member States in the Region must work closely with the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), donors, communities and all polio partners to refocus efforts and renew our collective ownership and accountability in the final stretch to eradicate polio.

The Regional Subcommittee aims to bring together Member States from across the Region to intensify regional solidarity and commitment to collective actions that achieve polio eradication. Agreement for the establishment of the Subcommittee was formally endorsed by Member States through resolution EM/RC67/R4 at the Sixty-seventh session of the Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean in October 2020.

Statements

Statement on stopping wild poliovirus transmission in Afghanistan and Pakistan | Arabic
26 March 2024

Statement on stopping transmission of vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 in Yemen’s northern governorates and in Somalia | Arabic
26 March 2024

Statement on stopping transmission of vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 in Yemen’s northern governorates and in Somalia | Arabic
28 February 2023

Statement on stopping wild poliovirus transmission in Afghanistan and Pakistan | Arabic
28 February 2023

Statement on stopping wild poliovirus transmission in Afghanistan and Pakistan
14 June 2022

Statement on stopping the outbreak of vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 in Somalia and concurrent outbreaks of vaccine-derived poliovirus types 1 and 2 in Yemen
14 June 2022

Statement on stopping wild poliovirus transmission in Afghanistan and Pakistan by the Eastern Mediterranean Ministerial Regional Subcommittee on Polio Eradication and Outbreaks
9 February 2022

Statement on stopping the concurrent outbreaks of vaccine-derived poliovirus types 1 and 2 in Yemen
9 February 2022

Regional Subcommittee objectives

Build the political and financial support needed to achieve eradication. Regional support is essential in driving focused interventions to foster neutrality and impartiality in settings of conflict and unrest, and in raising domestic and international funding.
Oversee and encourage collective public health actions across the Region. Polio anywhere a threat to children everywhere. Wild poliovirus circulates in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and several more Member States are affected by outbreaks of vaccine-derived polioviruses, but the entire Region is at risk. The solution must be a coordinated approach that includes the entire Region.
Support polio transition in the Region. With polio workers and infrastructure having led the COVID-19 response across the Region, the COVID-19 pandemic showed the world that an investment in polio is an investment in public health.

Meeting reports

Subcommittee meeting reports

Report of the tenth meeting of the Regional Subcommittee for Polio Eradication and Outbreaks

Report of the seventh meeting of the Regional Subcommittee for Polio Eradication and Outbreaks

Poliomyelitis: Polio transition planning and polio post-certification

Report of the fifth meeting of the Regional Subcommittee for Polio Eradication and Outbreaks

Report of the fourth meeting of the Regional Subcommittee for Polio Eradication and Outbreaks

Report of the second meeting of the Regional Subcommittee for Polio Eradication and Oubreaks

Report of the first meeting of the Regional Subcommittee for Polio Eradication and Outbreaks

WHO Governing Bodies Reports and Resolutions

Poliomyelitis: Poliomyelitis eradication

EM/RC69/INF.DOC.1 Eradication of poliomyelitis

EMR 68 Regional Committee progress report on polio eradication | Arabic | French

EM/RC67/R4. Galvanizing efforts to eradicate polio in the Eastern Mediterranean Region

Progress report from the RC69 2022

WHA 75 two documents (polio and polio transition)

Polio transition planning and polio post-certification

EMR RC67 Regional Committee progress report on polio eradication | Arabic/p>

World Health Assembly 74 poliomyelitis eradication Report by the Director-General

Latest statements from the IHR Emergency Committee for Polio

Polio Eradication Initiative

More about polio

Polio Eradication Strategy 2022-2026: Delivering on a Promise

News

Regional Health Ministers rally to support immediate steps to stop polio from paralyzing children in the Gaza Strip

Health ministers convene in pivotal year for polio eradication at the 10th meeting of the Regional Subcommittee on Polio Eradication and Outbreaks

Eastern Mediterranean health leaders call for redoubled efforts for a defining year for polio

A word from members and partners

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Membership and meetings

The Subcommittee convenes three times a year, including during the October Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean, where it provides its progress report. Subcommittee membership comprises ministers of health from Member States across the Region, with overall leadership from the Regional Director for the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region, Dr Hanan Balkhy. During the inaugural meeting of the Regional Subcommittee in March 2021, the Ministers of Health from Egypt and Saudi Arabia were elected as co-chairs of the Subcommittee. Currently, the Minister of Health for Qatar and the Minister of Health for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) jointly co-chair the subcommittee.