The Global Polio Eradication Initiative has brought the world close to ending polio after more than three decades of sustained effort. However, the article stresses that eradication alone will not be enough. Keeping the world polio-free will require long-term investment in systems that can detect, prevent, and respond to poliovirus even after the final case is found.
The Sustaining a Polio-free World strategy was presented to Member States at the 79th World Health Assembly in Geneva in May 2026. The strategy sets out a long-term framework for maintaining a polio-free world after certification of wild poliovirus type 1 eradication and the elimination of variant poliovirus type 2.
The strategy was developed through a broad consultation process that began at the end of 2024. It involved technical working groups, extensive stakeholder reviews, engagement with WHO Member States across regions, and endorsement from the Polio Oversight Board. It also updates the earlier polio post-certification strategy published in 2018.
The strategy is built around three major goals. The first is to protect populations by withdrawing oral polio vaccine from routine immunization and maintaining strong routine immunization systems. The second is to detect and respond through effective surveillance and outbreak response capacity. The third is to contain polioviruses in laboratories, vaccine manufacturing facilities, and other settings to prevent reintroduction after eradication.
The new strategy reflects major changes since 2018, including the GPEI Polio Eradication Strategy 2022–2026 and its extension, the development of new tools such as novel oral polio vaccine type 2, updated global health frameworks, and shifts in the wider immunization and health emergency landscape. It also includes a 10-year global cost estimate and a roadmap to guide future planning and decision-making.
A key part of the strategy is planning for future governance and accountability beyond the current Global Polio Eradication Initiative structure. It recommends a model that begins with more centralized coordination in the immediate term and gradually shifts toward a more decentralized approach over time, depending on changing risks and country needs.
At the World Health Assembly, Member States expressed strong support for the strategy. Countries highlighted the importance of integration, national ownership, resilient immunization systems, outbreak preparedness, surveillance, health systems strengthening, and sustained financing. Germany urged countries to begin implementation early, noting that some measures may take significant time to establish.
Other Member States, including Norway and Canada, emphasized the need to embed essential polio functions within broader health systems. Countries dealing with ongoing outbreaks, including Nigeria, the Central African Republic, and Ethiopia, also affirmed their support for achieving and sustaining a polio-free world.
Global partners such as Gavi, Rotary International, and the United Nations Foundation also supported the strategy’s direction. They highlighted the importance of maintaining polio-funded assets, integrating core functions into national systems, and protecting the gains made through decades of eradication work.
The presentation of the strategy at WHA79 marks the beginning of the implementation planning phase. This phase will run alongside the final stages of eradication, as countries, regions, and global partners prepare the systems needed to sustain a polio-free world.
WHO will coordinate and manage the planning process in collaboration with GPEI and wider partners. The goal is to ensure that essential polio functions, including surveillance, immunization, outbreak preparedness and response, and containment, remain strong and reliable in all countries.
The article’s central message is that the world must prepare now for the period after eradication. A polio-free world will only remain secure if countries maintain high population immunity, strong surveillance, effective response systems, and safe containment of polioviruses. The strategy provides the framework, but implementation will require sustained political commitment, financing, and action.
