Ghana ends type 2 poliovirus outbreak after maintaining high vaccination rates
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The Ghana Health Service announced that the country successfully ended its type 2 poliovirus outbreak in August 2026.
The agency achieved this milestone through a combination of routine immunisation, supplementary vaccination campaigns, and community mobilisation. The Ghana Health Service worked with several international partners, including the World Health Organization, UNICEF, Gavi, Rotary International, and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to manage the response and monitor the situation.
Rigorous Outbreak Response Assessments confirmed the closure of the outbreak. This achievement places Ghana alongside Burundi, Guinea-Bissau, the Republic of Congo, and Uganda, all of which also ended their type 2 poliovirus outbreaks in August 2026. The agency credited these results to years of investment in disease surveillance and rapid response systems. Since Ghana introduced the Inactivated Polio Vaccine in 2018 and added a second dose in 2024, the country has kept its immunisation coverage above 95 per cent.
The Ghana Health Service warned the public that continued surveillance and vaccination remain necessary to prevent new cases, noting that polio can cause lifelong paralysis but is preventable through vaccines.
