When he was small, Polio robbed him of something most children take for granted: the freedom to walk and run. From that moment on, his days were shaped by a painful reality — while other children in his village raced to school and played football under the sun, he sat on the sidelines, watching, longing.
Each morning his older brother would come to carry him. Through dusty paths, past the mango trees and clay-homes, the boy was carried to class on his brother’s back. The brother’s shoulders strained, but he never complained. Still, the boy felt his heart ache: he was sad because he believed this was not how childhood was supposed to be. He believed childhood was running, laughing, kicking a ball into the goal. But for him, childhood had become “being carried”.
In school, as the others rushed the playground at break-time, his legs stayed still. He looked at their laughter, their leaps, and he felt the silent question: Why not me? The teacher would gesture to the brother: “Take him out for fresh air,” or “Let him join when he can.” But the boy knew the truth: joining meant being carried. Being carried meant being different.
After decades of persistent effort, the world is truly on the brink of eradicating polio — a disease that once left more than a thousand children paralysed every single day. In Africa in particular, the journey has been extraordinary: from a time when every country on the continent was polio-endemic and tens of thousands of children were paralysed each year, to a near-victory.
Yet the last mile is often the toughest. With renewed commitment and urgency from governments, partners and communities across Africa, we have the chance to #EndPolio once and for all #ForEveryChild.
Why Africa’s fight matters
- The World Health Organization African Region has already achieved the remarkable milestone of eliminating wild poliovirus — a testament to what African leadership, innovation and community mobilisation can accomplish. , see how Africa is changing the narrative in health.
- The infrastructure built to fight polio — thousands of vaccinators, surveillance networks, outreach into remote areas, partnerships with community and religious leaders — doesn’t just fight polio, it strengthens health systems across the continent.
- But Africa still faces risk: rare vaccine-derived polioviruses continue to circulate in some countries, especially where immunisation coverage is low or access is difficult.
The challenges we must overcome
- Reaching every child means going into the hardest-to-reach places — nomadic communities, conflict zones, informal settlements, border regions where migration is high. Recent reports show many African countries need intensified efforts in these areas.
- Maintaining high-quality campaigns: it’s not just about vaccinating, but ensuring no child is missed, monitoring coverage, using innovations (e.g., satellite mapping) to track progress. In the Lake Chad Basin, for example, improved tracking increased district coverage from 47% to 64% in one round.
- Sustaining momentum: Even after the elimination of wild poliovirus, sustaining surveillance, immunisation systems, and funding is critical. The gains are fragile if attention or resources drop.
A call to action for Africa
- Governments must redouble their commitment: mobilise domestic resources, ensure routine immunisation reaches all children, integrate polio work into broader health services so that infrastructure is sustained and benefits many.
- Communities and civil society are essential: local leaders, volunteers and parents make the difference in trust, uptake and coverage — their voices drive success on the ground.
- Partners and donors must stay focused: Although enormous progress has been made, the finish line is just ahead. Africa’s success will inspire the world and prove that no region is beyond reach.
What this means for every child
Imagine a child in a remote village in Africa — now, thanks to years of work, they don’t have to live under the threat of polio. They can grow, play, go to school, without fear of irreversible paralysis from a disease that was once a daily dread. That’s what we mean by “For Every Child”.
We have the vaccines, the know-how, the systems. What we need now is collective energy, resolve and action.
Let’s pledge today that Africa will cross the finish line — that polio will become a memory, not a risk. Let us work together to safeguard that legacy #ForEveryChild.
#WorldPolioday