Seventeenth meeting of the WHO South East Asia Regional Certification Commission for Poliomyelitis Eradication (SEA RCCPE), Kathmandu, Nepal

The 17th meeting of the SEA-RCCPE was held from 25 to 27 September 2024 in Kathmandu, Nepal. The key objective was to review the annual reports submitted by National Certification Committees for Poliomyelitis Eradication (NCCPEs) and reach a conclusion on the region's polio-free status.

The annual reports on polio-eradication status submitted by the NCCPEs of nine Member States were reviewed. The country annual reports tracked progress in immunization, surveillance, containment, outbreak response capacity, and polio transition. In the absence of the Myanmar NCCPE's annual progress report, the Commission reviewed the progress reported by the WHO Country Office for Myanmar.

Based on the reports received by NCCPEs and presentations made at the 17th SEA-RCCPE meeting, the commission concluded that the WHO South-East Asia Region had remained polio-free during the review period and that there is no evidence of wild poliovirus (WPV) circulation.

The SEA-RCCPE has cautioned of the ongoing risk of importing poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) and circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses (cVDPVs), particularly type 2, into the region. The commission expressed concern over the cVDPV2 outbreak in Indonesia, originating in 2022, and the most recent case of paralysis reported on June 15, 2024. Indonesia's national polio program responded proactively, including the use of novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) in nationwide targeted vaccination campaigns following the detection of cVDPV2 in various provinces. The commission noted the GCC's outlook on global certification requirements for cVDPVs. The SEA-RCCPE also noted the progress made in the region in terms of containment and polio transition.

Acknowledging the significant progress made by all Member States towards maintaining the region's polio-free status, SEA-RCCPE provided some general recommendations that apply to all countries of the Region and some country-specific recommendations to strengthen the polio programme in the Region further.

The SEA-RCCPE was formed to provide independent oversight to the polio-eradication programme in SEAR and advise WHO on the status of polio eradication in the region. Its first meeting was held in December 2008.