BRAZZAVILLE, Congo – Health ministers from five Lake Chad Basin countries have launched a landmark synchronized polio vaccination campaign targeting 83 million children under age 5, aiming to curb the spread of variant poliovirus type 2 across the region.
Ministers from Cameroon, the Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, Niger and Nigeria formally launched the campaign as a critical step toward eradicating the virus, which continues to circulate in several countries.
The coordinated vaccination effort will run April 24–28 and will focus on high-risk, mobile populations in border areas with weak surveillance, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa on Thursday.
Polio is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus. It invades the nervous system and can cause total paralysis in a matter of hours.
Over the past year, 210 detections of variant poliovirus type 2 were reported in Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria, 140 of them resulting in paralysis.
Although CAR has not reported any cases, its inclusion highlights the threat of cross-border transmission.
In Chad, more than half of the polio cases confirmed in 2024 are genetically linked to the strain circulating in Cameroon, underscoring the urgency for regional coordination.
Nearly 12 million children were immunized in 2024 through similar efforts.
The upcoming campaign will deploy roughly 1.1 million frontline workers, including vaccinators, mobilizers and monitors.
“The Lake Chad Basin remains a critical area in our fight against polio. By coming together as a region, we reinforce our commitment to ending polio once and for all,” said the Minister of Health of Chad, Hon. Dr Abdelmadjid Abderahim.
The initiative aligns with the Africa Regional Polio Eradication Action Plan and the Cross-Border Coordination Plan for 2024–2025, both recently updated to reflect changing epidemiological patterns.
The launch includes a closed-door meeting among the five ministers to discuss challenges, review data and enhance cross-border cooperation.
Global health partners, including WHO, UNICEF, the Gates Foundation, Gavi and Rotary International, support the campaign, which coincides with African Vaccination Week under the theme “Immunization for all is humanly possible.”
