The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is marking World Polio Day on Friday with a call for the Americas, including the Caribbean, to step up efforts to maintain the region’s polio-free status.
PAHO noted that the region has now gone more than 30 years without a case of wild poliovirus and emphasized that strong vaccination coverage remains crucial to preventing the resurgence of a disease that once caused widespread fear among parents.
“A few decades ago, parents lived in fear for their children’s health, sudden fever, pain, muscle weakness, and sometimes permanent paralysis. That was polio, an incurable disease that could cause lifelong disability or even death,” said PAHO director Dr. Jarbas Barbosa. “Thanks to vaccines and a tremendous collective effort, it has now been 31 years since wild poliovirus last circulated in our region. This is an extraordinary public health achievement.”
Polio once affected thousands of children across the Americas until the early 1990s. Nearly 6,000 cases were reported in 1975, and the last case of wild poliovirus in the region was detected in Peru in 1991. The Americas became the first region globally to be certified polio-free in 1994.
However, PAHO is warning that slipping vaccination rates pose a risk. Last year, just 83 per cent of children in the Americas received their third dose of the polio vaccine, well short of the 95 per cent coverage recommended by the World Health Organization to ensure herd immunity.
The organization explained that poliomyelitis is a viral disease attacking the nervous system, primarily in children under age five. While most infections show no symptoms, one in 200 cases results in paralysis, and between five and 10 per cent of those affected may die due to respiratory paralysis.
Globally, polio cases have plummeted by over 99 per cent since 1988, when the disease caused an estimated 350,000 cases annually in more than 125 countries. Today, only two countries continue to have endemic circulation of wild poliovirus.
Still, PAHO cautioned that vulnerable gaps remain. Areas with low vaccination coverage are at risk of outbreaks caused by vaccine-derived polioviruses that can spread in under-immunized communities. Strong surveillance systems and the use of multiple vaccine types remain essential to support eradication efforts.
“Protecting, strengthening, and following immunisation programme recommendations is an act of love, solidarity, and shared responsibility among governments, health workers, communities, and each of us,” Dr. Barbosa said.
PAHO is calling on governments to allocate sufficient resources to national immunization programmes, health workers to continue combatting misinformation, and families to ensure children’s vaccinations are up to date.
“On World Polio Day, PAHO reaffirms its commitment to the global eradication of this disease and to protecting future generations from preventable health threats.”
