The Ministry of Health announced the launch this November of a national vaccination campaign against poliomyelitis, covering all the country’s provinces through 274 local public health facilities. The aim is to protect children against the risk of reemergence of the mutant virus detected in recent years.
According to Dr Ishak El-Khalef, representative of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, this operation aims to vaccinate over 4 million children aged 2 to 59 months. It will take place in several phases between November and December 2025 and January 2026, with medical teams deployed throughout the national territory.
The official recalled, during a training day organised last Wednesday by the Ministry of Health in Algiers, that Algeria has been officially polio-free since 2016, a recognition granted by the Regional Certification Committee for Polio Eradication in Africa at its meeting in Accra.
Although the last case of wild poliovirus type 1 dates back to 1996, Dr El-Khalef indicated that in 2022, a mutant type 2 virus (VDPV2) was imported into the Tamanrasset province but was contained thanks to a rapid intervention. However, other isolated cases have been reported in some regions. According to specialists, this situation serves as a reminder that the virus can resurface when vaccination coverage is incomplete.
Nassira Saï, an infectious diseases specialist, explained that poliomyelitis, although eradicated in Algeria, requires a rapid and coordinated response in the event of variant emergence. “These mutant viruses appear when vaccination rates decline, allowing the weakened virus to regain its pathogenic power,” she specified. She highlighted the importance of introducing a new, more stable and safer vaccine designed to better prevent this type of mutation. According to her, the poliovirus can affect between 15 and 30% of adults.
The strategy presented by the Ministry of Health indeed plans to vaccinate 4,425,502 children during three successive campaigns between 23 November 2025 and January 2026. The vaccines to be used are nVPO2 and IPV, administered orally.
This extensive operation is part of close cooperation between the Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, to preserve the country’s polio-free status and ensure the health security of future generations.