32nd Meeting of the European Regional Commission for Certification of Poliomyelitis Eradication (RCC) Report (2018)

30-31 May 2018 Copenhagen, Denmark

The 32nd Meeting of the European Regional Commission for Certification of Poliomyelitis Eradication (RCC) reviewed annual updates submitted by the Member States of the Region on the status of their national polio eradication programmes. The RCC concluded, based on available evidence, that there was no wild poliovirus transmission in the WHO European Region in 2017 and that WPV importation or circulation of vaccine-derived polio virus, if any, would have been detected promptly by existing health/surveillance systems. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania and Ukraine remain at high risk of a sustained polio outbreak following WPV importation or emergence of circulating VDPV due to suboptimal programme performance and low population immunity. The RCC expressed concern at the number of countries, particularly middle-income countries at intermediate risk of polio transmission, where vaccination coverage appears to be in decline and the quality of poliovirus surveillance is suboptimal. The RCC again expressed concern over the number of countries proposing to establish poliovirus essential facilities and urged the countries to carefully consider the stringent requirements for establishing and maintaining PEFs and weigh the costs against any potential benefit to the country.