Special report on the 36th meeting of the European Regional Certification Commission for Poliomyelitis Eradication: Copenhagen, Denmark, 19–20 October 2022: twenty years of polio-free status in the WHO European Region

Overview

The 36th meeting of the European Regional Certification Commission for Poliomyelitis Eradication (‎RCC)‎, held on 19–20 October 2022, reviewed annual updates submitted by the Member States of the WHO European Region on the status of the national polio eradication programme in 2021. The RCC concluded, based on available evidence, that there was no wild poliovirus (‎WPV)‎ transmission in the WHO European Region in 2021. The RCC also concluded that Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Romania and Ukraine are at high risk of a sustained polio outbreak in the event of importation of WPV or emergence of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus due to suboptimal programme performance, particularly low population immunity. The conclusions of the RCC marked 20 years of sustained polio-free status in the European Region, which was commemorated with a special press briefing and high-level event held on World Polio Day, 24 October 2022, at UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark.