Africa eradicates polio - 7th September 2020

Wild polio has been successfully eradicated in Africa.

Polio, which can sometimes cause irreversible paralysis, is a contagious disease mostly affecting children under 5. It invades the nervous system and up to 10 per cent of patients die due to their breathing muscles becoming paralysed. Whilst a cure for polio has yet to be found, the oral polio vaccine, in use since 1961, provides lifelong protection from the disease.

1996 saw more than 75,000 children across Africa paralysed by the poliovirus. That year, the "Kick Polio out of Africa" programme was launched by South African President Nelson Mandela. The ambitious programme mobilised millions of health workers who visited every village in Africa to administer the vaccine.

Immunisation efforts were hindered by unfounded rumours spreading misinformation about the vaccine. Part of the initiative was to educate sceptical parents to be willing to have their children vaccinated. In some communities, it took decades to overcome the suspicion around the vaccine and eradicate the poliovirus.

Nigeria was the final African country to be declared polio-free. There, the campaign involved a huge effort to reach remote areas and dangerous places under threat from militant attack, where vaccinating children led to the deaths of some health workers.

Now, the independent Africa Regional Certification Commission has announced that Africa is finally free from wild polio. This is a huge milestone in the global fight to eradicate the disease. More than 95% of Africa's population has been immunised and the poliovirus now only exists in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

According to the World Health Organisation, polio could easily find its way back into a country that is currently polio-free if the vaccination programme fails. They warn countries to remain watchful and avoid any complacency until there is global eradication of the disease.