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The polio eradication programme brings together regional-level expertise to drive eradication efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan and to support other countries in EMR to remain polio-free.

Children show their marked fingers after receiving a dose of polio vaccine during sub-national immunization days (SNID) in August 2021 in Lahore, Pakistan. WHO Syed Mehdi Bokhari

WHO’s regional polio eradication programme works to respond to polio outbreaks and drive eradication efforts across 22 countries, with a particular focus on Afghanistan and Pakistan, the world’s only countries with endemic wild poliovirus. It works closely with the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), a public private partnership, whose aim is to complete the eradication and containment of all wild, vaccine-related and Sabin polioviruses, such that no child ever again suffers paralytic poliomyelitis.

The regional programme is headed by Dr Hamid Syed Jafari, the Director of Polio Eradication in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.

He tweets @Dr_HamidJafari

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The regional programme provides guidance and support to countries in the Region, across data management, epidemiology, risk communication, AFP and environmental surveillance, and laboratory function.

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Regional Incident Managers based in Amman are assigned to individual countries in the EMR, and frequently deploy to those countries to provide support on the ground.

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The GPEI Hub pulls together technical expertise and deep field experience from across the GPEI to deliver sustained and targeted support to Afghanistan and Pakistan, with a single aim: stop the transmission of wild poliovirus.

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In outbreak settings, the regional programme’s Incident Management Support Team (IMST) serves as an integrated outbreak response mechanism, channeling country and programmatic expertise into one dedicated team. The aim is faster, more targeted and more effective interventions that end outbreaks sooner.

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A core function of the regional polio programme is to provide technical support to governments, and in some cases subsidize positions inside Ministries of Health. The regional programme also has an advocacy function, negotiating with governments and non-state actors for access to populations in order to deliver life-saving vaccinations.

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The regional programme also plays a critical role in teaching and training, by developing teaching materials to use across the Region, and deploying experts to deliver training sessions, particularly in high-risk settings where many programmes are remote-controlled and knowledge is cascaded down following a training-of-trainers event.

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Polio work on the Eastern Mediterranean Region

Policy

WHO supports governance bodies and technical advisory groups to generate policy on vaccination programmes, polio transition and health advocacy commitments and actions, and technical guidance for countries working to eradicate polio.

Declarations and resolutions

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