WHO/Francisco Guerrero
A child receives a polio vaccine.
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Eliminating polio

The Western Pacific Region was certified polio free on 29 October 2000. Since then, the Region has experienced several polio events and outbreaks due to importation of wild poliovirus or emergence of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus. Thanks to the rigorous efforts of public health workers, all events and outbreaks were rapidly responded to and stopped.

Maintaining polio-free status is not simply about reacting to outbreaks following an importation; it also includes taking preventive actions such as conducting risk assessments to identify high-risk areas and conducting special preventive activities in these populations, strengthening routine immunization to ensure high population immunity, strengthening surveillance to ensure immediate detection of a wild or vaccine-related poliovirus, and having a solid outbreak response protocol.

WHO Western Pacific Regional Office supports Member States to:

  • Sustain high-level population immunity against poliovirus through vaccination
  • Withdraw oral polio vaccine (OPV) from use and immunize populations with inactivated polio vaccine (IPV).
  • Sustain highly sensitive polio surveillance systems and the Regional Polio Laboratory Network
  • Ensure sustainable domestic funding for polio essential functions
  • Be fully prepared for and promptly and thoroughly respond to polio events and outbreaks
  • Fully implement GAP III

Latest publications

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Immunization program data: regional and country profiles 2022

This publication includes regional and national trends on vaccine-preventable disease cases and immunization coverage in the Western Pacific Region as...

32nd Meeting of the Technical Advisory Group on Immunization and Vaccine-Preventable Diseases in the Western Pacific Region, 20-23 June 2023, Manila, Philippines/Hybrid: meeting report

The 32nd Meeting of the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) on Immunization and Vaccine-Preventable Diseases in the World Health Organization (WHO) Western...

Ninth Meeting of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases Laboratory Networks in the Western Pacific Region

The Ninth Meeting of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases Laboratory Networks in the Western Pacific Region was held virtually from 27 September to 1 October...

Meeting of the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization, 22–24 March 2021: conclusions and recommendations

The Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization held a virtual meeting on 22-24 March 2021. This report summarizes the discussions, conclusions and...

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