ACCRA — Ghana has successfully closed its type 2 poliovirus outbreak, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) said in a statement issued on Saturday, October 24, to mark World Polio Day 2026. The outbreak was formally closed in August 2026 after rigorous Outbreak Response Assessments (OBRA) verified that transmission had been halted, the GHS said, in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, Gavi, Rotary International and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Source: Ghana Health Service via Ghana Guardian, Oct 24, 2026
Ghana was not alone. The GHS said Burundi, Guinea-Bissau, the Republic of Congo and Uganda also closed their type 2 poliovirus outbreaks in August 2026. The WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Mohamed Janabi, confirmed the same five closures in his World Polio Day message, saying independent assessments had confirmed them and that every child should have the chance to grow up free from polio.
Source: WHO Regional Office for Africa, Oct 23-24, 2026
The milestone rests on coverage: Ghana has consistently maintained immunisation coverage above 95 per cent since it introduced the Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV) in 2018 and added a second dose in 2024, according to the Ministry of Health and GHS statement. The agencies credited routine immunisation, supplementary vaccination campaigns, outbreak response work and community mobilisation.
Source: Ghana Ministry of Health / GHS via GhanaMMA, Oct 24, 2026
Officials warned the closure must not lead to complacency. “A polio case anywhere is a polio case everywhere,” the GHS statement said, urging continued surveillance and vaccination. Dr Janabi gave the same warning from the regional level: poliovirus type 1 was detected in Madagascar after an earlier outbreak there was closed in 2025, showing how quickly progress can be threatened when vaccination gaps persist. Across Africa, more than 168 million children — yaani about 16.8 crore children — received at least one dose of polio vaccine through 55 campaign rounds in 22 countries between January and September 2026, he said.
Source: WHO Regional Office for Africa, Oct 23-24, 2026
The announcement also came with a fragility warning at home. Chale News reported that it arrived barely a day after health experts gathered in Accra cautioned that Ghana's hard-won polio-free status could be threatened by falling donor support. Health authorities urged parents and caregivers to keep every eligible child vaccinated and to remain vigilant so the outbreak does not return.
Source: Chale News (MyJoyOnline photo/reporting), Oct 24, 2026