Initiative pour un monde exempt de poliomyélite
Extraordinary chains of coordination to detect poliovirus amidst Sudan’s conflict
Dr Abdellatif Abdelwahab, Public Health Officer of White Nile State (left), collecting stool samples from Sennar State on his way to Gezira State. WHO/Sudan23 July 2023 – At the earliest signs of the ongoing conflict in Sudan, in the middle of April, WHO’s country team sprang into action. After all, conflict and infectious diseases are known to be...
Contributing to a lasting legacy: the ‘father’ of polio laboratories in the Eastern Mediterranean Region
Dr Humayun Asghar21 June 2023 – The vast machinery of the global polio eradication programme is much like the inner workings of a clock – a network of interconnected people, organizations and programmes that together are more powerful than the sum of their parts. Collaboration is foundational to eradication, and every eradicator plays a part in edging the...
Polio: As of today, the world’s only Public Health Emergency of International Concern
Credit: WHO/M. Al-Azraqi 21 May 2023 – In May 2014, the WHO Director-General declared the international spread of poliovirus a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) under the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005), a designation that allows for accelerated response, emergency disbursement of funding and mitigation...
WHO’s polio programme provides vital support to nationwide measles vaccination in Afghanistan
WHO Representative in Afghanistan Dr Luo Dapeng vaccinating children against measles in a mobile clinic in Baba Wali village of Kandahar province. With more than 20 years’ experience on the ground in Afghanistan, WHO’s polio eradication programme continues to leverage its extensive operational capacity to deliver better health outcomes for all...
Eastern Mediterranean health leaders call for redoubled efforts for a defining year for polio
Credit: WHO/Pakistan 9 March 2023 – On Tuesday 28 February 2023, ministers and high-level delegates from across the Eastern Mediterranean Region participated in the seventh meeting of the Regional Subcommittee for Polio Eradication and Outbreaks. The meeting came at a time of contrasts for polio eradication efforts. On the one hand, the Region’s...
This is what lab leaders look like: voices of women leading lab innovations to end polio
In the polio eradication programme, women are forces to be reckoned with. From the doorstep to the lab, they play important and integral roles at all levels of the polio programme. We got the perspectives of four women from the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region who tap into digital innovations in WHO-supported laboratories to shape decision-making and spur...
Statement on stopping transmission of vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 in Yemen’s northern governorates and in Somalia
Seventh meeting of the Regional Subcommittee for Polio Eradication and Outbreaks 28 February 2023 Acknowledging that our common goal is to attain ‘Health for All by All’, which is a call for solidarity and action among all stakeholders; Noting the progress achieved globally in eradicating poliovirus transmission since 1988; Noting with deep...
Statement on stopping wild poliovirus transmission in Afghanistan and Pakistan
Seventh meeting of the Regional Subcommittee for Polio Eradication and Outbreaks28 February 2023 Acknowledging that our common goal is to attain ‘Health for All by All’, which is a call for solidarity and action among all stakeholders; Noting the progress achieved globally in eradicating wild poliovirus transmission since 1988, with endemic wild...
Gearing up to stop polio in Afghanistan and Pakistan
16 January 2023 – In October 2022, the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) for Afghanistan and Pakistan met in Muscat, Oman, to conduct a thorough review of ongoing polio eradication efforts in the remaining polio endemic countries. During the 6-day meeting they also provided strategic technical guidance on steering efforts towards successful...
Polio-free India: It seemed impossible until it was done
Dr Hamid Jafari, Director of Polio for the WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Region, reflects on his time eradicating polio in India and what lessons we can take from this to address the final challenges for achieving eradication in Afghanistan and Pakistan. India’s journey from the world’s epicentre of a highly infectious viral disease to turning...
