World Polio Day: 168 Million Children Vaccinated as WHO Harps on Funding Shortfalls

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Ayodeji Ake**

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has disclosed that more than 168 million children received at least one dose of polio vaccine across 22 African countries between January and September 2026, warning that funding shortfalls could undermine efforts to eradicate the disease on the continent.

The WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Mohamed Janabi, raised the concern in a message to mark World Polio Day 2026, calling on governments to increase domestic investment in vaccination programmes and development partners to provide predictable funding to sustain eradication efforts.

Janabi said that although African countries had made significant progress against polio, persistent transmission, gaps in vaccination coverage and inadequate financing continued to threaten the gains recorded over the years.

He disclosed that the 168 million children were reached through 55 vaccination campaign rounds conducted across 22 countries in the nine-month period.

According to him, the achievements reflected the commitment of health workers, community leaders and parents who continued to support vaccination campaigns, including in hard-to-reach communities.

“Every child should have the chance to grow up free from polio. Yet a disease we can prevent still causes irreversible paralysis, changing children’s lives and placing lasting demands on their families,” he said.

The WHO official, however, warned that funding constraints were forcing countries to concentrate vaccination campaigns on areas considered to be at the highest risk, leaving other vulnerable communities without adequate protection.

He identified the Lake Chad Basin and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as areas of particular concern because of persistent poliovirus transmission.

In the DRC, Janabi said additional vaccination rounds required to respond to the poliovirus type 2 outbreak remained unfunded, threatening progress towards the 2026 eradication targets.

He also cited the detection of poliovirus type 1 in Madagascar, following the closure of an earlier outbreak in 2025, as evidence that progress could quickly be reversed when vaccination coverage remained inadequate.

According to him, independent assessments this year confirmed the closure of poliovirus type 2 outbreaks in Burundi, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, the Republic of the Congo and Uganda.

The WHO African Region was certified free of indigenous wild poliovirus in 2020, a milestone Janabi attributed to determined leadership and collective action.

He stressed, however, that sustaining the achievement required continuous investment in vaccination, effective surveillance, rapid outbreak response and community engagement.

Janabi further explained that reaching children during campaign rounds was not enough, as they needed all recommended vaccine doses and access to reliable routine immunisation services to maintain protection against the disease.

He identified conflict, displacement, geographical barriers and concerns about vaccines as factors preventing some children from receiving the required doses.

“Bringing services closer to families must go hand in hand with listening to parents and answering their questions respectfully,” he said.

The regional director also highlighted the importance of cross-border cooperation in responding to outbreaks and protecting children in communities that straddle national boundaries.

He disclosed that coordinated vaccination campaigns conducted in Angola, the DRC and Namibia in March reached more than 10 million children, with laboratory evidence of genetically linked viruses helping to guide the joint response.

On surveillance, Janabi said laboratories across the region tested more than 100,000 polio samples in 2025, with over 90 per cent analysed within agreed timelines.

He added that the region expanded its poliovirus sequencing capacity from two to four laboratories, improving the timeliness of sequencing results from below 50 per cent to nearly 70 per cent last year.

The accreditation of Nigeria’s Maiduguri laboratory this year, he said, had further strengthened regional capacity to detect and respond to poliovirus.

He also identified Direct Detection Nanopore Sequencing, a technology being piloted in the region, as a promising innovation that could substantially reduce laboratory turnaround times and accelerate outbreak response.

Janabi noted that investments in polio surveillance and response could also strengthen national health systems and support responses to other public health emergencies, including the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the DRC.

He said health ministers adopted the Framework for Polio Transition and Sustainability in the WHO African Region 2026–2035 during the 76th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Africa in August.

The framework is expected to support the integration of polio-related capacities into national health systems, preserve technical expertise and strengthen routine immunisation and emergency preparedness.

Janabi acknowledged the contributions of Rotary International and partners of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, including Canada, the European Investment Bank, the Gates Foundation, Germany, the United Arab Emirates and the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre.

He called on governments to maintain strong political leadership and increase domestic investment, while urging international partners to ensure adequate and predictable financing for vaccination campaigns, surveillance and outbreak response.

“Polio eradication is within reach, but it requires an emergency mindset, swift action, sustained financing, strong accountability and political commitment,” he said.

He reaffirmed WHO’s commitment to working with governments and communities to strengthen immunisation, improve disease surveillance and ensure rapid responses to outbreaks.

Janabi stressed that securing the resources needed to complete eradication efforts remained critical to protecting existing gains and ensuring that every child in Africa could grow up free from polio.