Horn of Africa renews push to eradicate Polio

AFRICA—Countries in the Horn of Africa have renewed their commitment to ending the persistent outbreaks of variant poliovirus that have affected the region for nearly a decade.

This renewed momentum was announced during the World Health Assembly, held from May 19 to 27, 2025.

Health Ministers from the Horn of Africa, together with partners from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), pledged to intensify their efforts to eradicate polio once and for all.

A key outcome of this meeting was the agreement to establish an inter-ministerial coordination body.

 This group will help coordinate actions across countries in the region, ensuring a unified and effective response.

Among the planned actions are synchronized polio vaccination campaigns, improved poliovirus surveillance—especially along shared borders—and better information sharing through efficient coordination mechanisms.

The spread of poliovirus in the region has been fueled by low immunity levels in children and unmonitored population movements.

Challenges such as limited access to children living in insecure areas, varying levels of national commitment to polio eradication, weak cross-border coordination, and delayed outbreak responses have all contributed to the continued circulation of the virus.

Despite these challenges, the region has made significant progress.

In one of the largest vaccination drives in recent history, over 18 million children in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia were reached through a coordinated polio vaccination campaign conducted in two rounds between February and April 2025.

 Where synchronization was not possible, countries still coordinated closely to maximize coverage.

During the first round, which started in Somalia in February and concluded in Ethiopia and Kenya, the three countries shared real-time data on vaccination coverage and poliovirus surveillance.

This helped ensure that no under-immunized pockets or virus circulation went unnoticed.

Ethiopia, for example, vaccinated over 15 million children in its Somali region and strengthened surveillance and preparedness efforts.

In Kenya, nearly 1 million children were vaccinated in high-risk areas, including 10,000 children along the borders with Ethiopia and Somalia in just the first three days.

In Somalia, vaccination teams reached 2.4 million out of the targeted 2.5 million children under five years old with the novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2), traveling door-to-door across 76 districts.

Health workers worked closely with their counterparts in Ethiopia and Kenya to reach every eligible child crossing or living near the borders.

In Djibouti, more than 155,000 children received polio vaccines in April 2025 following the detection of variant poliovirus in a child and in the environment. This was a precautionary measure to boost immunity in a region at high risk of virus spread.

Alongside vaccination, the region is enhancing efforts to detect poliovirus, especially in high-risk areas.

A joint surveillance review is underway across the Horn of Africa to improve detection and response.

Although Kenya has not reported any variant poliovirus cases in 2025, it detected cases of acute flaccid paralysis—a polio-like symptom—in healthy children among new arrivals at Kakuma Refugee Camp. Fortunately, stool samples tested negative for poliovirus.

Somalia has been battling variant poliovirus circulation since 2017.

In 2024, the virus paralyzed seven children, but no cases have been reported so far this year.

Ethiopia has become a new hotspot for variant poliovirus type 2, with 44 children affected last year, highlighting the urgent need for outbreak response.

Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, Acting WHO Regional Director for Africa, praised the strong regional solidarity shown by the Horn of Africa countries in coordinating their polio vaccination efforts.

 He emphasized that working together is crucial to sustaining progress toward polio eradication. The WHO and GPEI remain committed to supporting these countries in their fight against polio.

Dr. Hanan Balkhy, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, also highlighted that diseases like polio do not respect borders and often hide among vulnerable populations.

He commended the governments and health workers of Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya for their collaboration but stressed that more must be done to ensure no child misses out on polio and other life-saving vaccines.

He called for intensified efforts to track, trace, and stop polio from spreading.

Preparation for this cross-border vaccination drive was a major focus at the Horn of Africa Coordination meeting held in Kampala in September 2024.

Representatives from WHO, GPEI partners, and health officials from Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania, and Uganda gathered to strengthen cross-border plans and align priorities.

Together, these coordinated efforts offer hope that the Horn of Africa can finally overcome the challenge of polio and protect its children from this debilitating disease.

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