MANILA, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia has officially ended its poliovirus type 2 outbreak after nearly three years, following an intensified vaccination campaign that delivered almost 60 million additional doses to children nationwide, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.
No poliovirus has been detected in children or the environment since June 2024. On Nov. 19, 2025, the WHO formally declared the outbreak closed.
WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific, Saia Ma'u Piukala, said Indonesia's achievement strengthens the region's polio-free status, first achieved 25 years ago.
"I urge all 38 Western Pacific countries and areas to be vigilant. One day, polio will be just a memory. Until then, we vaccinate," he said.
The outbreak began in October 2022 with the first confirmed case in Aceh. It later spread to other provinces, including Banten, West Java, East Java, North Maluku, and several areas in Papua. The last case of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) was reported in South Papua on June 27, 2024.
Indonesia responded with two rounds of nationwide campaigns using the novel OPV-2 vaccine between late 2022 and the third quarter of 2024, alongside improvements in routine immunization. Coverage of the second dose of inactivated polio vaccine rose from 63 percent in 2023 to 73 percent in 2024.
To accelerate protection, Indonesia's Ministry of Health introduced a hexavalent vaccine, combining DPT-HB-Hib and IPV, in October 2025 in Yogyakarta, West Nusa Tenggara, Bali, and six Greater Papua provinces, with nationwide rollout planned next year.
Surveillance for Acute Flaccid Paralysis also improved, with higher detection sensitivity and better stool specimen adequacy.
Independent assessments conducted in 2023, 2024, and 2025 under the Global Polio Eradication Initiative confirmed the quality of Indonesia's response and the absence of new cases, paving the way for the WHO to declare the outbreak closed.
Indonesia's Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said, "But we cannot be complacent. The risk of polio remains, especially with gaps in immunization coverage in several provinces." ■