WHO: Egypt Succeeded in Controlling and Eradicating Polio

Dr. Ahmed Al-Mandhari, Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean of the World Health Organisation (WHO), said during the 76th session of the World Health Assembly that the Eastern Mediterranean Region is witnessing complex humanitarian crises, which greatly affect some of the already weak health systems.

However, the countries of the eastern Mediterranean have made significant gains.

The spread of the poliovirus has been confined to the narrowest geographical locations ever, in eastern Afghanistan and western Pakistan. Fewer outbreaks of vaccine-derived poliovirus have appeared than they did a year ago.

Al Mandhari added that Egypt and Djibouti were able to control and eradicate polio, stressing that the region has intensified polio virus surveillance activities, including establishing environmental surveillance in countries at high risk that are free of polio, such as Bahrain, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia.

However, such difficult challenges remain.

Low levels of vaccination in Afghanistan and Pakistan threaten the well-being of children in the Middle East and around the world.