It is indeed a historic day as World Health Organisation has on Tuesday, 25 August declared Africa free of Polio.
This comes after four years without a single case. According to a statement by WHO, the last case of wild poliovirus in the region was detected in 2016 in Nigeria.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, during a livestreamed event said “Today we come together to rejoice over a historic public health success, the certification of wild poliovirus eradication in the African region.”
“The end of wild polio in Africa is a great day,” said Tedros, who is also the chair of the polio oversight board. “Your success is the success of the world. None of us could have done this alone.”
