By MONICA KAYOMBO,Zambia, Lusaka
FIVE African countries have achieved an important milestone in the continent’s long-running battle against polio, closing outbreaks of variant poliovirus after years of vaccination, surveillance and community mobilisation.
Burundi, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, the Republic of Congo ( DRC) and Uganda have officially stopped transmission of poliovirus type 2, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa. The five outbreak closures represent the largest single batch of closures recorded by the region.
The achievement is significant not only because it means thousands of children are better protected from a potentially devastating disease, but because it demonstrates what African countries can accomplish when governments, health workers, communities and international partners work together towards a common public-health goal.
Yet the achievement also carries an important warning: Africa cannot afford to become complacent.
Polio does not respect national borders. A country that has stopped transmission can be threatened again if the virus is imported from elsewhere or if gaps emerge in vaccination coverage and disease surveillance.
For Africa, therefore, ending polio is not simply about eliminating one disease. It is about protecting generations of children while building stronger health systems capable of detecting and responding to infectious diseases.
A disease that can change a child’s life forever
Polio is a highly infectious viral disease that mainly affects children under five. It can spread silently, with many infections producing no obvious symptoms, but in some cases the virus attacks the nervous system and causes irreversible paralysis.
There is no cure for polio. Vaccination is the most effective way of preventing it.
WHO estimates that one in 200 polio infections results in irreversible paralysis, while between 5% and 10% of people who become paralysed can die when the muscles involved in breathing become immobilised.
For families, the consequences can extend far beyond the initial infection.
A child who survives paralysis may live with permanent weakness, deformities, restricted mobility and other complications. The burden can affect education, employment, independence and the ability of families to participate fully in economic and social life.
That is why every outbreak stopped represents more than a public-health statistic. It represents children who will be able to grow, learn and participate in society without the threat of a preventable lifelong disability.
Africa has already shown that eradication is possible
Africa’s progress against polio is one of the continent’s major public-health success stories.
In 1996, when Nelson Mandela launched the Kick Polio Out of Africa campaign, an estimated 75,000 African children were being paralysed by polio every year.
Two decades of political commitment, vaccination campaigns and community mobilisation eventually produced a historic breakthrough.
In August 2020, the African Region was certified free of indigenous wild poliovirus. The last detected transmission of wild poliovirus in Africa had occurred in Nigeria in 2016. WHO says eradication efforts since 1996 prevented up to 1.8 million children from suffering lifelong paralysis and saved approximately 180,000 lives.
But being free of wild poliovirus does not mean Africa is completely free of all poliovirus.
Variant polioviruses, particularly circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses, can emerge in communities where immunisation coverage is insufficient. This is why the current outbreak closures in the five countries are so important.
They demonstrate that outbreaks can be stopped when countries identify transmission quickly, vaccinate effectively and maintain strong surveillance.
Five countries, one important lesson
The experiences of Burundi, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, the Republic of Congo and Uganda are different, but they share several common elements.
In Burundi, authorities intensified routine immunisation, conducted targeted vaccination campaigns and strengthened epidemiological investigations and environmental surveillance after a type 2 outbreak was declared in 2023.
The DRC responded to virus detections with multiple high-quality vaccination campaigns and stronger surveillance, with its last detection reported in December 2023.
Uganda intensified surveillance and outbreak response after poliovirus was detected in May 2024, while strengthening coordination between national and subnational authorities.
Ghana’s response benefited from investments in laboratory capacity alongside surveillance and rapid outbreak response.
In Guinea-Bissau, targeted vaccination campaigns and enhanced surveillance focused particularly on underserved populations. The country has reported no poliovirus detections since July 2021.
These experiences offer an important lesson for the rest of Africa: polio eradication requires persistence.
Outbreaks cannot be stopped through vaccination alone. Countries need reliable disease surveillance, functioning laboratories, trained health workers, accurate population mapping, community trust and the political commitment to sustain the response even after cases disappear.
Reaching the child who is easiest to miss
One of the greatest challenges facing African health systems is reaching children living in remote, mobile, conflict-affected or otherwise underserved communities.
Polio programmes have increasingly turned to technology and innovative mapping to address this challenge.
The WHO African Region has expanded the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and geospatial technologies to identify missed settlements, understand population movements and improve vaccination planning.
This matters because in polio eradication, one missed child can matter.
A child who is not immunised can become infected and contribute to transmission, particularly where many children have inadequate immunity.
The same systems used to find children for polio vaccination can also strengthen the delivery of other essential health services.
This is one of the most important wider benefits of the polio programme.
The health benefits go beyond polio
Polio eradication is increasingly becoming a vehicle for strengthening broader African health systems.
The surveillance networks, laboratories, trained personnel, community structures and logistical systems developed through the polio programme can be used to detect and respond to other infectious diseases.
WHO notes that the technical expertise, surveillance and community networks developed through polio eradication have supported responses to other outbreaks, including Ebola.
The investment therefore has benefits that extend far beyond preventing paralysis.
Improved laboratories mean diseases can be identified more quickly. Better surveillance means outbreaks can be detected earlier. Better mapping means health workers can reach underserved communities more effectively. Stronger community engagement can increase trust in vaccines and other health interventions.
As Gavi’s Chief Country Delivery Officer Thabani Maphosa observed in the WHO announcement, investments made in reaching missed children, community engagement, surveillance, mapping and outbreak response can have an impact far beyond polio.
This makes polio eradication not merely a disease-specific programme, but an investment in Africa’s broader public-health security.
A stronger shield against future outbreaks
Africa’s experience with COVID-19, Ebola and other infectious diseases has demonstrated the importance of detecting outbreaks early.
Polio surveillance contributes to this wider capacity.
The strengthening of laboratory networks across the African Region, including efforts to reduce the time needed to detect poliovirus, means countries can respond more quickly when a threat emerges.
This is particularly important in a continent characterised by extensive cross-border movement.
People travel for work, trade, education, family and other reasons. Viruses can therefore move between countries regardless of political boundaries.
That reality makes regional cooperation essential.
The recent closure of five outbreaks shows the value of countries working together, particularly in border areas and where populations are highly mobile.
The economic argument for eradication
The case for ending polio is also an economic one.
Preventing disability means preventing the long-term social and economic costs associated with caring for people affected by paralysis.
At the global level, WHO reports that economic modelling estimates that polio eradication could save at least US$40–50 billion, with most of the savings occurring in low-income countries.
But perhaps the most important economic benefit is less easily captured in financial figures: children who remain healthy have a greater opportunity to complete their education, enter the workforce and contribute to their communities.
For African countries striving to expand human capital and reduce poverty, preventing a completely avoidable disability is a powerful investment.
The danger of declaring victory too early
The closure of the five outbreaks should be celebrated, but it should not be interpreted as the end of the fight.
WHO has warned that poliovirus can be reintroduced into countries that have previously stopped transmission. Recent detection in Madagascar following an earlier outbreak closure demonstrates the continuing risk.
This is why countries must maintain high immunisation coverage and strong surveillance even when no cases are being reported.
The challenge is particularly important for variant poliovirus. In communities with low vaccination coverage, a weakened vaccine virus can circulate for an extended period and, over time, change into a form capable of causing paralysis. WHO stresses that maintaining high population immunity is key to preventing this.
The message is therefore clear: an outbreak closure is a milestone, not a finish line.
Africa’s opportunity
For Africa, the current moment presents an opportunity to build on decades of progress.
The continent has already demonstrated that a disease once responsible for paralysing tens of thousands of children each year can be pushed to the margins.
The five countries that have now closed their outbreaks provide a practical blueprint: political leadership, adequately funded vaccination programmes, capable health workers, community participation, strong laboratories, reliable surveillance and cooperation across borders.
The task now is to ensure that these gains are not lost.
Zambia, for example, joined neighbouring countries in 2026 in strengthening its response to polio, including vaccination campaigns and enhanced detection capacity through its upgraded National Polio Laboratory.
For countries still battling outbreaks, the experience of Burundi, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, the Republic of Congo and Uganda offers evidence that transmission can be interrupted.
And for countries that have already stopped outbreaks, it offers a reminder that vigilance must continue.
Ultimately, ending polio in Africa is about more than removing a virus from the continent. It is about ensuring that no African child is forced to live with a preventable lifelong disability; strengthening immunisation systems; improving the continent’s capacity to detect emerging diseases; and protecting communities against future health threats.
The world has already witnessed what sustained vaccination can achieve. Since the launch of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988, polio cases have fallen by more than 99%, and more than 20 million people are estimated to be walking today who otherwise might have been paralysed.
Africa has come too far to turn back.
The closure of five outbreaks is therefore not simply five reasons to celebrate. It is five reasons to believe that, with sustained political commitment, community trust and continued investment, a polio-free Africa can become a lasting reality.
