12 April marks the 70th anniversary of the world’s first polio vaccine, a world-altering technology.

Familiar voices speaking local tongues are getting the vaccination message out there, found Winile Ximba in Matola.

Herd immunity will protect people in those countries for now, but this is a concerning find.

If the second vaccine dose is not administered soon, Palestinian children will face yet another threat to life and limb.

Pakistan, one of the last two endemic countries for wild polio, is closer than ever before to ending this devastating disease for good. 

Babatunde Rolland reports from the frontlines of a polio vaccination drive that aimed to reach more than 20 million children across northern Nigeria.

In Afghanistan’s remote and mountainous Nuristan province, children are highly vulnerable to polio and other deadly diseases due to multiple, intersecting needs that stem from long-standing isolation and multiple deprivations.

Children in Gaza are not only in danger of air strikes, starvation and mental anguish brought on from over a year of war, but also the crippling threat of polio, a disease I contracted at just two years old.

Kipchumba, a former nominated Kenyan senator, has spent decades fighting for the vaccine he didn’t get. 

This week, VaccinesWork is shining its spotlight on polio, a disease the world is on the verge of vanquishing. Stay with us to learn about the people, and plans, fuelling that final furlong.

The Taliban says the suspension is temporary and the result of security fears.

At a recent ulema conference in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 190 renowned Islamic scholars pledged their support for immunisation. Adeel Saeed talked to several of them about the transformative effect they’ve been able to have on community attitudes.

A history of conflict cut off their access to vaccines. Now, marked for life by polio, these young Rwandans have their sights set optimistically on the future.

Polio's shock resurgence in Malawi and Mozambique has, after two years, officially been halted. Gender-conscious tactics proved vital - here's how.

The frontline worker who lost her feet in a train accident, but never the resolve to eradicate polio from Pakistan.

WHO prequalification of the novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) should make it easier for countries to tackle outbreaks. 

Muhammad Kamran lives with the lasting effects of a preventable infection. He’s doing what he can to make sure others won’t have to.

In Pakistan’s most polio-troubled region, a new strategy sees encouraging successes.

Being wild polio-free is no guarantee against resurgence, experts caution, as the country battles to repair its vaccine safety net.

Their aims are aligned and their tools are complementary, says Huma Khawar, a health journalist who also works as a CSO coordinator with Pakistan's Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI).

CDC assists rapid response to a wild poliovirus outbreak in Mozambique.

Round two of a nearly three-million child polio vaccination campaign was launched in mid-August, amid concerns the paralysing virus could still be spreading silently.

A pilot study in the Democratic Republic of Congo suggests the method could roughly halve detection times.

Today, the world is closer than ever to eradicating an ancient disease thanks to proven tools and brand-new innovations.

UNICEF expects WHO prequalification of the first whole-cell pertussis hexavalent vaccine during the third quarter of 2023. Here’s how they differ from existing vaccines.

Global leaders commit to ending polio once and for all.

In 1928, two Americans invented a large metal breathing device that would become synonymous with polio treatment.

An unvaccinated child in Bujumbura Province was the first diagnosed. Since then, 16 cases of acute flaccid paralysis have been found – but vaccines are being deployed.

Polio survivor and international disability rights activist Judy Heumann died this spring at 75. A 2020 documentary portraying her legacy offers important lessons for global health equity.

Amina Khaskheli discovered she can reach more kids on two wheels than on two feet – so that’s what she’s doing. If the sight of her on her bike has upset some conservative onlookers, it has also inspired more than a few young girls.

Aceh is 95% vaccinated against Type 2 polio following a recent shock outbreak, a landmark achievement in the notoriously vaccine-hesitant province.

Still endemic to neighbouring Afghanistan, polio was suddenly resurging in next-door Tajikistan. Uzbekistan’s health system needed to act fast, or risk the futures of its children.

Rosemary Mukui Nzunza, the head of the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) at the Centre for Virus Research, the Kenya Medical Research Institute, shares her story of pursuing a career in science.

Polio programme must keep clear focus in 2023 on adapting operations amid broader humanitarian emergencies.

Dr Hamid Jafari, Director of Polio for the WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Region, reflects on his time eradicating polio in India and what lessons we can take from this to address the final challenges for achieving eradication in Afghanistan and…

Decades after the vaccine, adults with post-polio syndrome are struggling with symptoms – and looking for answers.

Satellite imagery and deft negotiation are critical tools for polio vaccination teams working across the world’s conflict zones, writes Adeline Tchouakak.

As 2022 draws to a close, independent technical bodies from key epi-centres dive deep on what it will take to achieve success in 2023.

The country is working with neighbouring countries to vaccinate children under five against polio.

A pediatrician and advocate reveals what’s at stake in the fight for global polio eradication – and why, despite recent setbacks, he refuses to despair.

Pakistan is on a mission to get polio back under control following an increase in cases. Rotary International is playing a key role.

Polio cases are down from hundreds of thousands every year in the 1980s to just a few hundred today. We are close to making polio the second human disease to be eradicated, but what will it take to finally consign this killer disease to the…

Public health midwives (PHM) are integral to maternal and child health across Sri Lanka.

As activists, donors and health experts gather in Berlin to raise US$4.8 billion to fund the final push towards polio eradication, Pascal Barollier, Gavi’s Managing Director of Public Engagement and Information Services, gives his view on what’s…

In February 2022, a year and a half after the continent was declared indigenous wild poliovirus-free, the virus resurfaced in south-eastern Africa. As the Global Polio Eradication Initiative kicks off pledging to fund the 2022-2026 strategy,…

To stem the potential health risks from the flooding, the government is establishing emergency health camps.

In September 2022, Ghana completed the first of two four-day national immunisation drives against polio, following the confirmation of two acute flaccid paralysis cases in the country.

Pakistan is one of just two countries where the polio virus remains endemic. Challenges remain in identifying and vaccinating all children, but data management software is providing a way forward.

Decades after recovering from polio, some survivors are developing progressive muscle weakness and fatigue that can severely impair their quality of life.

Before the introduction of vaccines, polio killed or paralysed more than half a million people worldwide every year. Since the late 1980s, cases have fallen by 99.9%, due to global efforts to immunise children with the oral polio vaccine. However…

The oral polio vaccine – which is no longer given in the US – relies on a live but weakened virus that can actually be passed from person to person.

Polio cases have nose-dived by 99% since the late 1980s after a push to eradicate the disease, but clusters of cases across the world indicate that it could resurge if we don’t double down on eradication.

How the Rotarian behind the viral #LondonToLagos motorbike ride crossed continents to remind the world that the road to polio eradication won’t stay open forever.

To pre-empt a possible outbreak after neighbouring Malawi registered its first polio cases in three decades, Tanzania is going door-to-door to vaccinate its children.

New report provides evidence on role of polio workforce in COVID-19 vaccine rollout and essential immunization, and makes the case to sustain the network to strengthen public health.

British health officials have declared a national incident after routine surveillance identified potential community transmission of poliovirus in London. Gavi’s Head of Vaccine Programmes, Stephen Sosler, tells Linda Geddes how this can happen…

Medical doctors and religious teachers play a crucial role in building trust and convincing families to vaccinate their children against polio.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that cutting back on eradication efforts could cause a global resurgence of polio that ten years from now could paralyze up to 200,000 children a year. The final five-year push to eradicate…

Reaching the remotest areas with the polio vaccine.

After registering its first polio case in 30 years, Malawi has undertaken a door-to-door vaccination campaign across the country targeting 2.9 million children.

The programme to eradicate polio shows that mass immunisation is possible in India.

Polio survivors in Kano State are helping to change perceptions towards vaccines.

Uganda is working hard to ensure that all the gains made in the fight against polio aren’t lost to the pandemic.

Civil society, media, local influencers, celebrities, religious scholars, and frontline workers are all reinforcing the Pakistan government’s fight against Poliomyelitis.

South Sudan has reignited the drive to vaccinate its children against the polio virus.

Kenya is raising awareness about vaccines to reduce the number of zero-dose children who never receiving a single dose.

With a recent outbreak of Vaccine-Derived Polio in Lagos and other states in Nigeria caused by poor vaccination coverage, teams are working to ensure that no child is left behind.

Dr. Folake Olayinka speaks about overcoming gender-related barriers to immunization.

In Kenya, people often rely on their community for assistance in covering medical expenses. Immunisation changes this for the better.

South Sudan has systematically implemented campaigns to eradicate polio in the country. Hard-working vaccinators are striving to keep it that way.

More often than not, the road to a meaningful triumph is a bumpy one.

Malawi’s Ministry of Health recently conducted a nationwide polio vaccine catch up campaign targeting 1.8 million children who had previously missed out on the vaccine.

Offit’s sobering inquiry into “one of the worst biological disasters in American history” is a work of unflinching investigative journalism which lands, finally, not as a whodunit, but as a tribute to modern systems of meticulous vaccine…

Pakistan is one of two countries where wild poliovirus remains endemic making it essential that the entire country supports the successful implementation of every polio campaign. Women play a critical role, often working at polio’s frontline.

Community health volunteers collaborated with local structures in the slums to help inhabitants survive lockdown and stop the spread of disease.

A rich network of community volunteers in Nairobi are putting skills they developed during anti-polio activities to work tackling COVID-19, and mobilising slum dwellers to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Before 1955, when a vaccine first made polio a preventable illness, the paralysing disease had to be treated. For many, the best option was the iron lung, a device that came to symbolise an era of anxiety in mid-20th century America.

In pockets of vaccine resistance like Fauji Colony in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, children remain at risk of crippling polio. VaccinesWork meets the polio workers going door-to-door to change minds and protect children’s futures.

As political and public health leaders across the world work to encourage people to get vaccinated against COVID-19, what can they learn from the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll getting jabbed?

Dr. De Sousa has spent more than twenty years charting the highs and lows of polio eradication in Angola.

In a special one-off interview, PolioNews (PN) talks to both Aidan O’Leary (A-O’L) and Michel Zaffran (MZ) about the future of polio eradication.

We've gone from a novel virus to several COVID-19 vaccines in less than a year. Here's what we've learned from earlier vaccines to allow this to happen.

Health workers take COVID-19 precautions to deliver polio drops.

Vaccinators tackle winter conditions and challenging contexts during Afghanistan’s last polio campaign of the year.

Community mobilizers inform and prepare communities for vaccinators.

Local adaptation and innovation has allowed the resumption of polio immunization campaigns – and points the way to more effective, community-based delivery of a whole range of basic health services.

The world is anxiously awaiting the development of a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine. Nearly 60 years ago, the world was also waiting in eager anticipation of a publicly available vaccine to stop a disease that was ravaging communities around…

Throughout the country, all year-round, routine and supplementary immunisation activities took place to ensure that no child was left behind from being vaccinated.

In the face of the challenges posed by the pandemic, Ghana is working to protect 4.5 million at-risk children from polio through the launch of two polio vaccination campaigns. Here’s a closer look at those efforts for World Polio Day.

Polio, a contagious disease caused by the poliomyelitis virus is transmitted primarily when stool from someone infected contaminates foods, drinks or water sources. It invades the nervous system and could, in a matter of hours, lead to complete…

We are close to a polio-free world, yet cases of vaccine-derived disease are challenging the eradication effort.

Snapshots from DRC, India and Zambia illustrate country ownership and progress in the fights against Ebola, polio and HPV.

More than 3,000 health workers are conducting a three-day health campaign from 30 August to 1 September 2020 to ensure that around 400,000 children aged under five receive measles and polio vaccines, as well as vitamin A and deworming tablets, at…

How the African Region is Celebrating the End of Wild Polio while cVDPV Outbreaks Continue

By foot, boat and bicycle, thousands of volunteer vaccinators in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) go to extraordinary efforts, sometimes at personal risk, to help eradicate polio.

When Aisha took her son Busami Modu to his grandmother’s house in Kuya, a village in Borno state, Nigeria, she waved goodbye to a healthy, happy little boy. A “beauty to behold,” she recalls. The next time she saw him, he was paralysed and unable…

COVID-19 has triggered lockdown measures for billions of people around the world. As many of us struggle to adapt to the ‘new normal’, we look at the origins of quarantine measures - and how they’ve been used to contain deadly outbreaks for…

Interview with David Rizzo, Vaccine Manufacturing Manager at Sanofi Pasteur.

The road to polio eradication has been a long one so far, but in 2014, we’re closer than we’ve ever been to getting rid of the disease for good. Here are 5 reasons why.

Article by Olivier Charmeil, President and CEO of Sanofi Pasteur