The WHO European Region retained its poliomyelitis (polio)-free status for 2023. This conclusion by the European Regional Commission for the Certification of Poliomyelitis Eradication (RCC) was based on annual reports for 2023 submitted by Member States. The reports provided clinical and environmental surveillance data indicating that:
- no wild poliovirus was circulating in the Region in 2023; and
- any importations or circulation would have been detected promptly by the existing health/surveillance systems.
The RCC also endorsed WHO’s formal closure of the 2022–2023 outbreak of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 in Israel.
The RCC expressed concern, however, that stagnated progress or setbacks in several countries, including suboptimal immunization coverage, incomplete poliovirus facility containment and lack of outbreak preparedness planning, have put the Region’s polio-free status at risk.
“Polio-free status is not simply granted to the European Region – it must be confirmed every year based on detailed evidence,” says Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe.
“For over 20 years, sustained efforts to achieve high vaccination coverage, quality surveillance and rapid outbreak response have prevented the virus from becoming re-established in this Region. These efforts must be commended, but also intensified as challenges to our collective defence against this virus increase.”
Ongoing challenges
Conflicts pose a particular threat to the functioning of immunization programmes. The RCC expressed concern that Ukraine remains at high risk for sustained transmission of poliovirus if wild or circulating vaccine-derived virus were to be introduced, because of suboptimal population immunity and continuous attacks on the health system and vital infrastructure.
The current poliovirus outbreak in the Gaza Strip (occupied Palestinian territory) poses a significant risk to unvaccinated children in the territory and has high potential to spill over to neighbouring countries. The RCC welcomed vaccination efforts that have begun in the Gaza Strip despite the exceptionally difficult circumstances.
Importations of polioviruses linked to outbreaks in other regions will continue until polio has been eradicated globally. So far in 2024, several countries in the Region reported poliovirus detections in environmental samples. The virus detected in September in Spain, for example, was linked to a vaccine-derived poliovirus that emerged in northern Nigeria and had previously been circulating in a number of other countries. All detections are being investigated and no cases of paralysis have been reported.
A full report of the 38th meeting of the RCC is pending publication.
World Polio Day
World Polio Day, celebrated on 24 October each year, highlights global efforts to end polio worldwide and the importance of polio vaccination to protect every child from this devastating disease. Rotary International and Rotarians around the world have played a crucial role in these efforts; Rotary International is the civil society partner of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.
Polio is a life-threatening disease caused by the poliovirus, which the World Health Assembly committed to eradicate in 1988. The Region was declared polio-free in 2002 and has sustained this status every year since then.