Jakarta, goldensamoyed Indonesia
—
Indonesia officially ends Extraordinary Events (KLB)
polio
type 2, which emerged due to low polio immunization coverage over several years.
In an official release from the Ministry of Health on Friday (21/11), almost 60 million additional doses of polio immunization have been given to children during the response to this outbreak.
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“Since June 2024 until now, no more polio virus has been found in children or the environment. Based on this situation, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the KLB was officially closed on 19 November 2025,” said a release from the Ministry of Health.
Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said Indonesia had succeeded in stopping the spread of polio in Indonesia thanks to the dedication of health workers, the commitment of parents and all members of society.
“Every child has the right to receive protection. We must continue to work together so that polio does not return by ensuring that all children receive complete age-appropriate polio immunization,” said Budi.
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He also reminded Indonesia not to be complacent.The risk of polio, said Budi, still exists, especially due to gaps in immunization coverage in several provinces in Indonesia.
Meanwhile, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific Saia Ma’u Piukala said Indonesia’s success was an important step towards a world without polio.
This success also strengthens the ability of the entire WHO Western Pacific Region to maintain the polio-free status achieved 25 years ago.
“I urge all 38 countries and territories in the Western Pacific to remain vigilant. One day, polio will be history. Until then, we must continue immunization,” he said.
The polio outbreak in Indonesia has occurred since October 2022, when the first case was reported from Aceh.
In the following two years, cases were also found in the provinces of Banten, West Java, Central Java, East Java, North Maluku, Central Papua, Mountainous Papua and South Papua.The last case of cVDPV2 (polio virus variant) was confirmed in South Papua on June 27 2024.
Indonesia then responded with two additional rounds of polio immunization using the novel OPV-2 (nOPV2) vaccine.Immunization begins at the end of 2022 and ends in the third quarter of 2024.
In parallel, routine immunization coverage is also increasing, with the percentage of children receiving the second dose of inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) from 63 percent (1.9 million children) in 2023 to 73 percent (3.2 million children) in 2024.
In an effort to accelerate the increase in IPV coverage, the Ministry of Health initiated the use of a hexavalent vaccine which combines DPT-HB-Hib and IPV in one injection.
This vaccine provides protection against six diseases at once, namely polio, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, hepatitis B, as well as pneumonia and meningitis due to Haemophilus influenza type b infection.
In accordance with the Global Polio Eradication Initiative protocol, a global independent team assessed the quality of the polio outbreak response through the Outbreak Response Assessment (OBRA) in July 2023, December 2024 and June 2025.
Based on this assessment, it was concluded that Indonesia had implemented quality response efforts, carried out a series of efforts to strengthen and improve program implementation as recommended by the OBRA team, and proved that there were no new cases.
“Thus, WHO stated that Indonesia has met the criteria for ending the outbreak, so that the polio outbreak status can be closed,” said a release from the Ministry of Health.
(isa/chri)
