Wild poliovirus type 3 (WPV3) has been eradicated worldwide, it has been announced.
The historic announcement, made on World Polio Day yesterday (24 October, 2019), has been hailed as significant by Professor David Salisbury, chair of the independent Global Commission for the Certification of Poliomyelitis Eradication.
WPV3 is the second strain of the poliovirus to be wiped out, following the certification of the eradication of WPV2 in 2015. Only wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) remains, in Afghanistan and Pakistan. No wild poliovirus type 1 has been detected anywhere in Africa since 2016.
At a celebration event at the headquarters of the World Health Organisation in Geneva, Switzerland, Prof Salisbury presented the official certificate of WPV3 eradication to Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization and chair of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) Polio Oversight Board.
“Wild poliovirus type 3 is globally eradicated,” said Prof Salisbury. “This this is a significant achievement that should reinvigorate the eradication process and provides motivation for the final step – the eradication of wild poliovirus type 1.
“This virus remains in circulation in just two countries: Afghanistan and Pakistan. We cannot stop our efforts now: we must eradicate all remaining strains of all polioviruses.”
Key to the efforts to the complete eradication of polio will be the Reaching the Last Mile Forum as part of a Global Health Week in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, next month.
“The achievement of polio eradication will be a milestone for global health,” said Dr Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “We remain fully committed to ensuring that all necessary resources are made available to eradicate all poliovirus strains. We urge all our other stakeholders and partners to also stay the course until final success is achieved.”
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