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The African Region has made tremendous progress in polio eradication, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The momentum began in August at the 75th WHO Regional Committee for Africa in Lusaka, where African health ministers pledged to “accelerate the polio endgame.”
Comparing the number of African countries with active type 2 poliovirus outbreaks between 2024 and 2025 (as of October) the number declined from 24 to 14, and total virus detections dropped by 54 per cent. Two African countries (Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Mozambique) reported type 1 cases, 14 countries type 2 and 3 countries (Algeria, Cameroon and Nigeria) reported type 3 based on data as of October 2025.
Across the African Region, countries have continued to advance towards this goal. The progress in 2025 reflects stronger cross-border coordination, expanded surveillance, improved laboratory capacity, and the use of digital tools to increase reach, efficiency and equity.
Between January and October 2025, 15 African countries reached nearly 200 million children with at least one dose of polio vaccine through supplementary immunisation rounds.
Thirteen countries mounted synchronised campaigns, including in highly challenging contexts.
In the Horn of Africa, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia jointly vaccinated more than 18 million children in two consecutive rounds, demonstrating the impact of regional collaboration.
In September 2025 Cote d’Ivoire inaugurated a newly upgraded polio laboratory at the Institut Pasteur in Abidjan, equipped with advanced sequencing technologies to speed up virus detection and strengthen surveillance across West Africa.
At the same time, Kenya’s KEMRI laboratory as well as South Africa also expanded its sequencing capacity, further stepping up the region’s ability to detect and respond to poliovirus swiftly.
Then in October, Nigeria launched an integrated vaccination campaign — one of the largest in Africa, targeting over 106 million children with measles, rubella, and polio vaccines.
In the third quarter of 2025 (as of end of September), 37 million children in the African region were vaccinated.
Environmental surveillance has expanded significantly. Ninety-eight per cent (46/47) of countries have established environmental surveillance systems. These countries have systems to monitor wastewater and sewage for polioviruses, providing early warnings of possible transmission, and enabling rapid response before the virus spreads.
Digital innovation is improving how frontline teams are supported and how data is used. More than 850,000 frontline workers across the region receive digital payments through mobile-money platforms, with 95 per cent paid within 10 days of campaign completion. This has enhanced accountability and timeliness, especially in remote areas. This milestone highlighted how polio infrastructure continues to support wider health goals.
But health systems in Africa are strained by competing health priorities and emergencies, which negatively impact efforts to address health challenges, including polio, resulting in delayed vaccination campaigns and variable quality of those. Vaccination refusal continues due to misinformation and community fatigue.
To truly end polio, countries must sustain cross-border coordination, reach zero-dose and under-immunised children, expand surveillance and sequencing capacity, and maintain high-quality outbreak response.
The task ahead demands continued commitment, adequate financing and coordinated action at every level.
“On World Polio Day (24 October 2025), let us renew our determination to reach every child, with every vaccine, everywhere – and to consign polio to history, forever,” says WHO.
This year’s theme, End Polio: Every Child, Every Vaccine, Everywhere, is a call to ensure that no child, in any setting, is left unprotected.