Yemen battling variant poliovirus outbreak amid humanitarian crisis

24 October 2024, Sana’a/Aden, Yemen — Yemen continues to battle an outbreak of variant poliovirus, with 273 cases reported over the last three years amid a humanitarian crisis and declining vaccination rates, the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned today.

This World Polio Day, the data paints an alarming picture that polio, a disease that can cause irreversible paralysis and death, and which can be prevented by vaccination, continues to threaten the lives of children in Yemen. This comes at a time when Yemen’s children are faced with life threatening problems such as cholera, diphtheria, and malnutrition.

In Yemen, which until 2020 had been polio-free for decades, national polio immunization coverage dropped from 58 per cent in 2022 to 46 per cent in 2023 due to the fragility of the health system and the social, political and security crisis.

“The outbreak of variant poliovirus type 2 in Yemen persists amidst increasing health emergencies, further straining an already overburdened health system. Through renewed collective action and customised strategies that integrate health services with polio vaccination for Yemen’s children, we can enhance outbreak response and surveillance, making significant progress towards eradicating the spread of variant poliovirus in Yemen,” said Dr Arturo Pesigan, WHO Representative and Head of Mission in Yemen.

To bridge the immunization gap and combat the surge in polio cases, WHO and UNICEF are teaming up with the Ministry of Health and other partners to reach missed children and underserved communities. Since 2023, a series of polio immunization campaigns have been conducted. The two campaigns conducted in 2024 reached 1.2 million children in the first round in February, and over 1.3 million children in the second round in July, representing 100 per cent and 102 per cent coverage respectively.

In addition, the Ministry of Health, WHO, UNICEF, Gavi and other partners are joining forces to implement the Big Catch-up initiative which aims to restore and accelerate routine immunization services for children who missed vital vaccines including during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite ongoing challenges, particularly in governorates in the areas controlled by the De-facto Authorities, the authorities  and health partners have jointly launched the Health Emergency Expansion Response (HEER) initiative. This initiative aims to extend integrated primary health care (PHC) services, including vaccination. The focus is on reaching underserved areas, enhancing health equity, and addressing the ongoing polio and measles outbreaks.

“The battle against polio is challenging in a fragile, conflict-affected context like Yemen. But eradication is within reach. We need to gather efforts with the local authorities, health professionals and community leaders among other partners to ensure that every child is vaccinated against polio and other preventable diseases,” said Peter Hawkins, UNICEF Representative to Yemen.

While efforts are underway, additional support and resources are needed to step up initiatives  to end polio and save the lives of vulnerable children. WHO and UNICEF are calling on governments, partners and donors to:

• Prioritize the vaccination of all children against polio through vaccination campaigns.
• Strengthen immunization systems to ensure all children receive essential, life-saving vaccines.
• Protect humanitarian and health care workers delivering vaccines.
• Deliver an integrated package of health services, including polio vaccine.

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