Chair and Members of the South-East Asia Regional Certification Commission for Poliomyelitis Eradication
Chairs of National Certification Committees
Representatives of Poliovirus Containment Authorities
Partners and colleagues from Ministries of Health, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, partner agencies, and WHO
Ladies and Gentlemen
Good morning, and welcome to the 18th meeting of the WHO South-East Asia Regional Certification Commission for Poliomyelitis Eradication.
I would like to begin with my thanks to the Chair and members of the Regional Certification Commission for your leadership and service. Since certification in 2014, your oversight has helped protect South-East Asia’s polio-free status.
My thanks go out to everyone who has made this possible - the National Certification Committees, and containment authorities, and our partners—UNICEF, Rotary, GAVI, the Gates Foundation, and others.
Colleagues,
We are here today to ensure that our region remains polio-free, and to prepare for the next phase of the polio endgame.
While we mark over a decade since regional certification, the global context remains challenging.
Wild poliovirus type 1 continues to circulate in two countries. Outbreaks of circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses persist in multiple regions, including ours.
The recent detection of cVDPV2 in Papua New Guinea, and VDPV1 in Myanmar, warn us of the need to stay prepared and maintain high population immunity. These threats highlight the importance of our work here this week, and remind us that unless polio us eradicated everywhere, it remains a risk everywhere.
The deliberations of this meeting, therefore, carry deep weight. Over the next three days, you will focus on four important areas:
- Maintaining Polio-Free Status: ensuring that all countries sustain high population immunity, particularly through a second IPV dose.
- Polio Transition: ensuring that core polio functions are preserved and embedded in broader health systems, as we move from vertical polio programs to integrated systems. This transition is a strategic imperative.
- Containment: ensuring strong containment protocols in vaccine manufacturing and lab facilities in the region. We welcome the participation of the containment authorities at this meeting and welcome their insights on implementing the Global Action Plan IV.
- Post-Certification Strategy: consulting on the regional implementation of the global post-certification strategy, including the cessation of bOPV. This is an important step, and we must ensure that all countries are ready.
Colleagues,
I would like to thank you all for accommodating the hybrid meeting format this year. Whether you are here in person or joining virtually, your voice is heard, and we appreciate your support in our efficiency measures.
This Regional Certification Commission remains the cornerstone of our regional polio oversight.
I urge you to conduct rigorous reviews of the data; to assess risks objectively; and to provide actionable recommendations.
Your guidance will shape our path forward—not only to sustain polio-free status, but also to strengthening immunization systems and public health resilience.
We are closer than ever to ending polio. However, almost there’ is not the same as ‘done.’ Let’s finish the job, with urgency and unity.
Thank you.