Polio

WHO gets pledges worth $2.6B in global push to wipe out polio

But the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) – a public-private partnership that counts WHO among its main partners – says it needs $4.8 billion for its 2022-2026 strategy to overcome the final hurdles to eliminating the disease.

UK launches vaccine booster campaign as polio spreads in London

Britain is also expanding surveillance for polio to other areas outside London to see if the virus has spread further.

Deadly attack targets polio vaccination team in Pakistan

Pakistani authorities said that gunmen attacked a polio vaccination team, killing one health worker and two policemen in North Waziristan.

Polio virus detected in London sewage samples: WHO, UK

The discovery in the London sewage samples suggests "there may be localised spread of polio virus, most likely within individuals that are not up to date with polio immunisations," Polio eradication expert says.

Mozambique confirms first polio case in three decades

Genomic sequencing suggests that the newly confirmed case is linked to a strain that began circulating in Pakistan in 2019, similar to the case reported in Malawi this year, the WHO says.

Malawi detects first polio case in Africa in over 5 years

The WHO declared that the strain was linked to one that has been spreading in Pakistan, where it is still endemic.

WHO, UNICEF launch Afghanistan polio vaccine campaign with Taliban backing

The newly launched campaign aims at reaching over 3 million children in the country amidst a shortage of trained staff.

Afghanistan set to start nationwide anti-polio campaign

The four-day door-to-door campaign is set to begin on Monday with an aim to target the country's 10 million children under age 5.

Pakistan is on the verge of polio eradication

Only a single case of the communicable disease has been reported this year- something that has never happened before.

UN rings alarm bell over child malnutrition in Ethiopia's Tigray region

"Some 18,600 children under the age of five in Tigray have been admitted for treatment for severe acute malnutrition from February to August this year compared to 8,900 in 2020, a 100% increase," says UN.

Death toll rises in attacks on Afghanistan polio teams

Attack in Jalalabad forces authorities to suspend operations on second day of resuming the vaccination campaign after five members of two teams were killed.

Pakistani police constables protecting polio vaccine team killed in attack

Opposition to vaccines in Pakistan has grown after the CIA organised a fake hepatitis B inoculation drive to help track down Al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad a decade ago.