31st meeting of the Africa Regional Commission for the Certification of poliomyelitis Eradication
Dates: 4-7 July 2023
Venue: Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Participating countries: The Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, Ethiopia, Mali, Madagascar, Mozambique 
Outcomes:
During the 4-day meeting, the ARCC members led by Prof Rose Leke reviewed the situation of polio eradication globally and in the African Region, the response to poliovirus outbreaks, the status of surveillance and containment and the priorities for 2023 in the Region. Participating countries were allowed to present and discuss their national specific Polio eradication activities.
On the wild polio virus (WPV) risk and response, the ARCC noted the significant progress made toward interrupting WPV1 in Malawi and Mozambique following importation – the last case of WPV1 was in August 2022. The Region is on track to interrupt WPV1 before the end of the year; both countries are encouraged to sustain this effort. However, because of the high number of countries with ongoing Circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) outbreaks in the Region, the ARCC finds that the probability of ending cVDPV2 transmission by end of 2023 is low. Consequently, the Global polio eradication initiative (GPEI) Goal 2 target will likely be missed in the African Region.
With regards to surveillance, persistent gaps have been noted especially in hard to reach and security affected areas as well as in funding in the 37 countries that no longer receive GPEI surveillance funding.
Supplementary Immunization Activities (SIAs) quality was also discussed. It appears that during the last 12 months, many countries had challenges in implementing high quality campaigns with less than 50% of districts which passed the LQAS survey in Ethiopia and Uganda while 50% and 78%, respectively, of districts were accepted in last Round1 and Round2 in Ghana. In Madagascar, 62% lots passed in May 2023 and 55% in July 2022 while 76% of districts passed during the last Round in Cote d’Ivoire. In Algeria, an improvement from R1 and R2 (71 to 88%) was noted.
If the political will, which includes advocacy efforts at the African Union level and by First Ladies in many countries with outbreaks, is laudable, the Region is still confronted with vaccine supply and funding constraints.
At the closure of the meeting, general recommendations were made on population immunity, SIAs and Surveillance. Country Specific Observations and Recommendations were made to Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Ethiopia, Chad, Madagascar and Mozambique. 
The next ARCC meeting will take place from 31st October to 3rd November 2023.
Author: Hilaire DADJO, Communications Officer, WHO/IST West Africa,
Photo 1: Africa’s polio certification commission bolsters control measures against the virus - Credit: WHO DRC
Photo 2: Group photo with Prof. Leke and the Dep. MOH for DRC, Dr Serge E. - Credit: WHO DRC