Certification of poliomyelitis eradication

The European Regional Commission for the Certifi cation of the Eradication of Poliomyelitis (RCC) held its fifteenth meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark on 19–21 June 2002. In this unique meeting, based on careful consideration of all of the evidence presented, the RCC concluded that the transmission of wild poliovirus had been interrupted in all (then) 51 Member States of the European Region and, on 21 June 2002, the Commission certified the European Region to be poliomyelitis free. The RCC emphasized that, until global polio eradication has been achieved, importation of wild poliovirus from polio-endemic regions is possible and therefore each Member State and WHO must sustain the highest levels of polio immunization and surveillance.