Of the 541 children affected by polio globally in 2023, 85 per cent live in the 31 fragile, conflict-affected, and vulnerable countries, according to a new UNICEF analysis on World Polio Day.
Polio cases in these settings have more than doubled in the past five years, while routine childhood immunization has dropped from 75 to 70 per cent – well below the 95 per cent needed for community immunity.
The data issue a stark warning that the life-threatening disease continues to thrive in areas where life is most precarious, and where conflict, natural disasters, humanitarian crises, other destabilizing factors make it difficult to deliver critical healthcare.
“In conflict, children face more than bombs and bullets; they are at risk of deadly diseases that should no longer exist,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “In many countries, we are witnessing the collapse of healthcare systems, destruction of water and sanitation infrastructure, and the displacement of families, triggering a resurgence of diseases like polio. Children are being left paralyzed, unable to walk, play, or attend school.”
A global decline in childhood immunization has also led to an increase in polio outbreaks, including in countries that had been polio-free for decades. Nowhere is this more evident than in conflict-affected areas, with 15 out of 21 such countries – including Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, South Sudan, and Yemen – currently battling polio.
In recent months, UNICEF and partners have intensified emergency responses to surges in polio outbreaks. In Gaza, for example, UNICEF, in partnership with WHO, reached nearly 600,000 children under 10 years during the first round of a polio vaccination campaign in mid-September. The second and final round has been successfully implemented in south and central Gaza, but renewed mass displacement and bombings have delayed the process in the north. The campaign follows the return of polio to Gaza for the first time in 25 years.
In Sudan, national childhood vaccination coverage plummeted from 85 per cent before the war to 53 per cent in 2023, while in active conflict zones, the coverage has dropped to just 30 per cent. In response, UNICEF and partners have led two emergency polio campaigns in recent months, reaching 2.9 million children under 5 years through house-to-house vaccinations.
Successful polio vaccination campaigns in fragile, conflict-affected, and vulnerable countries are critical to stopping further cases and protecting children who are already vulnerable. Humanitarian pauses are essential to ensure healthcare workers can reach children and deliver vaccines safely.
