Lowest vaccination rate since 2017: WHO warns of polio danger in Europe and Asia
Kyiv • UNN
Polio vaccination coverage in the European Region has reached its lowest level since 2017, leaving approximately 450,000 infants vulnerable. Poliovirus remains endemic in several Asian countries, posing a risk to Europe.
Polio vaccination coverage in the European Region, according to the latest annual WHO statistics, is at its lowest level since 2017. At the same time, in several Asian countries, poliovirus remains endemic, which also highlights its danger to European countries.
UNN reports with reference to Euronews.
Details
The World Health Organization (WHO) Bureau in Europe on Friday, October 24, warned of persistent gaps in polio vaccination coverage in the region. Last year, polio vaccination coverage in Europe and Central Asia declined, leaving about 450,000 infants vulnerable to this highly contagious disease, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported.
Although the region has been declared polio-free since 2002, efforts to globally eradicate and maintain the status at the required level have not been observed for a long time.
In 2024, the European Region recorded the lowest polio vaccination coverage since 2017. This refers to 53 countries in Europe and Central Asia. This level is 93%.
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Against the backdrop of an alarming overall decline in routine childhood immunization, and with poliovirus present in Afghanistan and Pakistan (the only countries where it remains endemic), this is a worrying sign. There is always a risk that cases will be imported from these more distant Asian countries to Europe. And with gaps in vaccination, the virus will begin to spread among the unvaccinated.
Recall
300,000 doses of oral polio vaccine (OPV) arrived in Ukraine in April 2025 as humanitarian aid from UNICEF.