JAKARTA, Indonesia. The World Health Organization said Indonesia polio outbreak has officially ended after nearly three years of intensive response efforts, officials said Friday.
Indonesia remains largely polio-free since the country declared eradication of the highly contagious disease in 2014. But eight years later, an outbreak emerged in the conservative province of Aceh, caused by a dangerous combination of persistently low levels of routine immunization and unhealthy environmental conditions. In 2021, only 50.9% of babies born in Aceh received the polio vaccine.
Officials say Aceh's polio immunization rate lags far behind the rest of the country, with efforts hampered by widespread misinformation that the vaccine is incompatible with religious beliefs, among other things. The government has also been prioritizing COVID-19 vaccinations since they became available.
Over the next two years, cases appeared in the provinces of Banten, West Java, Central Java, East Java, North Maluku, Central Papua, Highland Papua and South Papua, prompting mass immunization and awareness campaigns. The response administered nearly 60 million additional doses of polio vaccine to children.
The last confirmed case of polio occurred in South Papua province in June 2024. Since then, poliovirus has not been detected in children or in the environment, prompting the WHO to declare the outbreak over on Wednesday.
In a joint statement on Friday, Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin credited the success to the “dedication of health workers and the commitment of parents and communities,” while WHO regional director for the Western Pacific Saya Mau Piukala called the achievement “an important step towards global eradication” while urging continued vigilance.
“I urge all of our 38 countries and regions to remain vigilant. One day, polio will be just a memory. Until then, we will keep getting vaccinated,” Piukala said.
Following the end of the polio outbreak, Sadikin vowed to keep Indonesia polio-free through strengthening routine immunization, strengthening surveillance, cross-sector collaboration and community support.
“Every child deserves to be protected,” he said. “However, we cannot be complacent. The risk of polio remains, especially given the gaps in immunization coverage in several provinces in Indonesia.”
Indonesia's response included two rounds of nationwide immunization using the new oral polio vaccine type 2 and improved routine coverage. The second dose of inactivated polio vaccine rose from 1.9 million children, or 63%, in 2023 to 3.2 million children, or 73%, last year, helped by the introduction of the hexavalent vaccine, which is expected to reduce the number of injections children receive and speed up the development of immunity to various diseases.
“This shows what is possible when communities, health workers and partners come together,” said UNICEF Indonesia Representative Maniza Zaman. “We must maintain momentum to ensure every child gets the immunizations they need to grow up healthy and free from polio and other vaccine-preventable diseases.”
