South-East Asia marks 15 years without wild polio case, says WHO
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The World Health Organization said on Tuesday that the South-East Asia Region has completed 15 years since recording its last case of wild poliovirus, marking a major public health milestone for a region that is home to nearly a quarter of the world’s population.
According to the WHO, the region continues to sustain its polio-free status while using lessons and innovations from the polio eradication programme to strengthen broader public health efforts. Dr Catharina Boehme, Officer-in-Charge of the WHO South-East Asia Region, said the achievement reflects unwavering government leadership, a committed health workforce, and strong partnerships with communities.
She said the journey from polio endemicity to sustained polio-free status shows that ambitious public health goals can be achieved and maintained.
The last reported case of wild poliovirus in the region involved an 18-month-old girl who was paralysed in West Bengal’s Howrah on January 13, 2011. This was followed by an extensive response that led to the WHO declaring the region polio-free on March 27, 2014.
The UN health body said countries in the region continue to maintain strict vigilance against poliovirus importation and protect children through vaccination. In 2025, more than 50,000 stool samples were collected and tested through a network of 13 WHO-accredited polio laboratories. Surveillance standards across the region continue to exceed the requirements for maintaining polio-free certification.
Environmental surveillance is being conducted at 93 sites across five countries, focusing on high-risk populations. Vaccination coverage with the bivalent oral polio vaccine and at least one dose of the inactivated polio vaccine has remained above 90 percent for many years.
Boehme warned that as long as polio exists anywhere in the world, the risk of importation remains and stressed the need for sustained immunisation, surveillance, and rapid response systems.