Lake Chad Basin countries unite against polio

CHAD—Ministers of Health from the Lake Chad Basin countries and the Sahel subregion have unveiled a detailed cross-border coordination plan for 2024/2025 aimed at addressing the persistent transmission of variant poliovirus in Central and West Africa.

This initiative forms a key part of the broader Africa Regional Polio Eradication Action Plan, which aims to halt all forms of poliovirus transmission in the region.

The joint effort highlights the urgent need to eradicate polio and prevent its spread across national borders, promising a safer future for millions of children.

Recognizing the need for renewed collaboration, government leaders, WHO, UNICEF, and other partners convened in July and August 2024 to craft a comprehensive plan to eradicate variant poliovirus in the seven key countries.

This plan, endorsed by all parties, outlines ten key commitments, with the primary goal of making transmission interruption a top health priority.

Each country is tasked with establishing dedicated Incident Management Systems and advocating for sustained political engagement at the highest levels.

The plan advocates for a more aggressive response to outbreaks, treating all polio cases, including those caused by circulating variant polioviruses, with the same urgency as wild poliovirus cases.

The plan seeks to interrupt ongoing transmission by December 2025 by implementing expanded, high-quality immunization campaigns.

The plan also emphasizes the importance of cross-border coordination, with a focus on synchronizing polio vaccination campaigns across national boundaries.

Special attention will be given to mobile populations and hard-to-reach areas to ensure that no child is left unvaccinated.

In addition, joint community engagement activities will foster cooperation and ensure that communities are informed and actively involved in the eradication efforts.

Specialized tools, such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS), will support real-time data sharing and decision-making.

A robust monitoring and accountability framework will be established, with regular ministerial dialogues to evaluate progress and address challenges.

This collective effort aims to end active poliovirus outbreaks by the end of 2025 and pave the way for a polio-free Africa by the close of 2026.

The endorsement of this plan reflects a renewed commitment to safeguarding future generations from the debilitating effects of polio.

To facilitate these efforts, a new coordination office, the “Lake Chad Basin Task Team,” will be established in N’Djamena.

This office will centralize the polio response, enabling better coordination among health authorities, technical teams, and countries through real-time information sharing.

Although the African Region was declared free of indigenous wild poliovirus in August 2020, it now faces the urgent threat of intense type 2 variant poliovirus transmission.

Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Regional Director for Africa, emphasized the need for a unified, cross-country response, similar to the strategy that successfully eliminated wild poliovirus.

WHO is working on a robust incident management system to ensure synchronized vaccinations and coordinated cross-border actions.

However, the Lake Chad Basin and Sahel regions pose unique challenges in the fight against polio. These areas remain critical transmission drivers due to factors like insecurity, limited healthcare access, and high population mobility.

In 2024 alone, 134 polio detections—both environmental and human—were reported in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria as of September 5.

Nearly 70 million children have been vaccinated across these critical areas since the start of the year to combat this.

Despite considerable efforts, variant poliovirus type 2 continues to spread. In response, the new plan aims to strengthen collaboration between Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria to interrupt transmission by the end of 2025.

Political commitment at the highest level is seen as essential to the success of this initiative.

During an interministerial virtual meeting on August 16, 2024, and a subsequent Side Event involving Member States from across the African region, senior government leaders, along with Global Polio Eradication Initiative partners, pledged their commitment to stopping the transmission of variant poliovirus.

Gilles Fagninou, UNICEF’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa, praised governments for their leadership in implementing synchronized polio campaigns involving all stakeholders, particularly communities and traditional leaders.

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