Rotary International has thanked all role players for their hard work in ensuring that Africa is finally polio free.

This historic milestone was announced earlier this week by Rotary International and its partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, after Nigeria, the only remaining country in Africa with endemic polio virus, reported it’s last case more than three years ago. The disease usually affects children under five, sometimes leading to irreversible paralysis, while death can occur when breathing muscles are affected.

Nigeria is the last African country to be declared free from wild polio, having accounted for more than half of all global cases less than a decade ago.

The disease is now only found in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The World Health Organization’s African region has been certified wild polio-free. Now 5 of the 6 WHO regions – representing over 90% of the world’s population – are free of the wild poliovirus. Learn what this means in #Rotary’s fight to #endpolio.

— Rotary International (@Rotary) August 25, 2020

Thanks to dedicated #Rotary members, health workers, donors, and partners, the World Health Organization’s African region is now certified as wild poliovirus-free. #endpolio

— Rotary International (@Rotary) August 24, 2020