By: Dr Indrajit Hazarika, WHO Representative in Angola

Polio remains a real threat in several countries across the African region, including Angola, which has led the country to step up surveillance. Despite the progress made, the virus continues to exploit vulnerabilities: it crosses borders, follows population movements and spreads where vaccination coverage is insufficient. Recent experience shows that the risk is neither distant nor hypothetical, but current, concrete and very close at hand.

In late 2025, the Republic of Namibia confirmed the presence of type 2 poliovirus in a wastewater sample in Rundu. Laboratory analyses revealed that the virus was genetically linked to two human cases recorded in Menongue, in Cuando Cubango, confirming that it was an imported case originating from Angola. This episode unequivocally demonstrates that borders do not protect against the virus; rather, it is families, municipalities and health systems that do so. It also shows that the region functions as an interconnected epidemiological space, where an outbreak in one country poses an immediate risk to neighbouring countries.

The threat is not limited to the south. In Congo-Brazzaville, although there have been no recent cases of wild poliovirus, the authorities maintain enhanced environmental surveillance in the Ouesso region, as it is an area sensitive to regional circulation. 

This shows that, even where polio appears to be under control, the risk can change rapidly if there are gaps in immunisation, particularly when neighbouring countries, such as Angola and Namibia, detect viral activity.

It is against this backdrop that Angola is launching yet another national polio vaccination campaign. The objective is clear and urgent: to ensure that over 95% of children under the age of five are vaccinated in every municipality across the country. 

This level of coverage is not merely a programme target, but the minimum threshold required to interrupt transmission. Furthermore, the campaign represents a crucial opportunity to vaccinate the more than 500,000 Angolan children who have never been vaccinated, a figure that places Angola among the countries with the highest incidence of ‘zero-dose’ children in the region. It is these children who represent the greatest risk gaps, and their inclusion is a national and regional priority.

Vaccination protects against polio, but its benefits go far beyond that. It is a profoundly strategic investment for the country. Studies show that every dollar spent on immunisation can generate an economic return of over twenty dollars, by preventing hospitalisations, reducing treatment costs, preventing outbreaks, increasing productivity and strengthening the economies of families and communities. 

Vaccinated children fall ill less often, miss fewer days of school and have better opportunities for development, and every individual gain translates into collective progress.

Angola has already demonstrated that it is capable of eradicating this disease. In 2015, the country was certified as free of wild poliovirus. This achievement showed that national determination, combined with technical commitment, can eradicate a virus that has affected thousands of children over decades. Today, the country is once again on the right track to prevent polio from re-establishing itself, but this will only be possible with a strong health system before, during and after campaigns. This includes regular funding for fixed, mobile and outreach services, adequate transport, continuous training for health workers, safe vaccine storage and robust epidemiological surveillance.

The WHO and its partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) will continue to support Angola in all these areas, from technical supervision to data analysis, including team training and the identification of strategies to reach the most remote areas. However, the driving force behind this campaign remains within the communities. It lies with the municipal administrators, who ensure the logistics. With the traditional and religious leaders, who build trust. It lies with the young mobilisers who take the message to families. And, above all, with the families themselves, who make the final decision to protect their children.

Allow me to make a simple and direct appeal: that every family helps to protect children by welcoming the teams with open arms, sharing accurate information, identifying children who have not yet been reached, and supporting the work of the teams on the ground. Vaccinating every child makes the country safer. Every door that opens is an opportunity to stop the virus. Every act of mobilisation strengthens Angola and bolsters protection across the entire region. We now have a real chance to stop the spread of polio. This responsibility lies with all of us. Now is the time to act with clarity, commitment and unity.

This article was first published in Jornal de Angola, a version of which can be found here: https://www.jornaldeangola.ao/noticias/9/opini%C3%A3o/672322/unidos-pela-protec%C3%A7%C3%A3o:--vacinar-para-garantir--um-futuro-livre-da-p%C3%B3lio