New Delhi [India] January 13 (ANI): 15 years after recording its final case of untamed poliovirus, the WHO South-East Asia Region with 1 / 4 of the world’s inhabitants, continues to maintain its polio-free standing whereas harnessing improvements and classes from the polio programme to speed up broader public well being progress, an official assertion mentioned.
‘This extraordinary achievement adopted unparalleled efforts and demonstrates what will be completed and sustained by way of unwavering authorities management, a devoted well being workforce, and powerful partnerships, together with with communities,’ mentioned Catharina Boehme, Officer-in-Charge, WHO South-East Asia Region.
On this date in 2011, an 18-month-old woman was paralyzed by wild poliovirus in Howrah, West Bengal, India. The in depth and intensive response that adopted ensured that this remained the final case of untamed poliovirus within the Region. Three years later, the WHO South-East Asia Region was licensed polio free on 27 March 2014.
The Region continues to take care of strict vigil in opposition to poliovirus importation and shield kids by way of vaccination in opposition to a illness that when triggered widespread paralysis and demise, as per the assertion.
In 2025, greater than 50,000 stool samples had been collected throughout the Region and examined by way of a community of 13 WHO-accredited polio laboratories, together with nationwide, regional and world reference laboratories. Surveillance throughout the Region continues to exceed the requirements required to take care of polio-free certification.
Adding an extra layer of sensitivity to detect any potential poliovirus transmission, environmental surveillance is being performed at 93 websites amongst excessive danger inhabitants in 5 international locations.
As per annual WHO/UNICEF Estimates of National Immunization Coverage (WUENIC), the Region has maintained excessive inhabitants immunity by way of persistently sturdy immunization protection. Coverage with bivalent oral polio vaccine and at the least one dose of inactivated polio vaccine has remained above 90% for a few years, the assertion learn.
Even throughout humanitarian emergencies, pure disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic, international locations sustained high-quality surveillance and immunization providers, safeguarding these hard-won features.
Providing impartial oversight, the South-East Asia Regional Certification Commission for Poliomyelitis Eradication (SEA-RCCPE) meets yearly to evaluate nation progress, assess dangers and confirm the Region’s continued polio-free standing.
The polio programme continues to ship advantages far past a single illness. Member international locations have utilized improvements, techniques and operational classes from polio eradication to strengthen routine immunization, advance measles and rubella elimination, improve public well being laboratory capacities and emergency preparedness. These efforts have been instrumental in increasing routine immunization protection, reaching beforehand unreached communities, and shutting immunity gaps.
Member international locations have additionally recorded main progress in opposition to different vaccine-preventable illnesses. The Region continues to maintain elimination of maternal and neonatal tetanus, whereas the introduction and scale-up of vaccines in opposition to pneumococcal illness, rotavirus, hepatitis B, Japanese encephalitis, typhoid and human papillomavirus, continues to scale back mortality and long-term illness burden.
As lengthy as polio exists anyplace on the planet, the danger of importation stays. Countries should maintain excessive immunization protection, delicate surveillance and fast response capacities for polio in addition to different vaccine-preventable illnesses, the Officer-in-Charge mentioned, as per the assertion.
‘The journey from polio endemicity to sustained polio-free standing demonstrates that formidable public well being targets are achievable,’ Boehme mentioned, including, ‘WHO stays dedicated to supporting international locations to guard each little one by way of sturdy routine immunization techniques and to advance illness elimination throughout the Region.’ (ANI)