Wild Polio Virus : Africa Continent Certified Polio-Free

The Africa Regional Certification Commission has declared Africa as wild polio-free after four years without a case. The Chairperson of the African Regional Certification Commission (ARCC), Professor Rose Gana Fomban Leke during a virtual live- stream session of the 70th WHO Regional Committee for Africa, made the announcement, Tuesday, August 25, 2020. Speaking from the conference hall of the Ministry of Public Health in Yaounde, Professor Rose Leke said after rigorous investigation and meticulous data verification, the members of the ARCC have concluded that indigenous wild poliovirus transmission has been interrupted in the WHO Africa Region.
The ARCC Chairperson said the declaration to fight polio in Africa began in Yaounde, Cameroon and the occasion to declare Africa free from the wild poliovirus free was being made from Yaounde. She recalled that in 1996, during the 32rd Ordinary session of the Organisation of the African Unity (OAU), Heads of State and Government signed the Yaounde Declaration to commit themselves to eradicate polio from Africa. At the time, polio was paralyzing an estimated 75,000 children, annually, on the African continent. In the same year, late President Nelson Mandela launched Africa’s commitment to polio eradication with the launch of the “Kick Polio Out of Africa” campaign. On behalf of the ARCC commission, Professor Rose Leke went on to virtually hand-over the certificate to the WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, which attests that WHO African Region has interrupted the transmission of the wild poliovirus. This took place in the presence of Cameroon’s Minister of Public Health, Malachie Manaouda and other national and international partners in the fight against polio. With the historic milestone, five of the six WHO regions-representing over 90 per cent of the world’s population-are now free of the wild poliovirus, moving the world closer to achieving global polio eradication. Only two co...