On World Polio Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) is warning of the ongoing spread of poliovirus and calls for intensified efforts to protect every child.

Polio, a preventable disease that can cause irreversible paralysis and death, remains a threat to Yemen’s children as the nation grapples with multiple overlapping health emergencies including cholera, measles, diphtheria and severe malnutrition.

Yemen has been battling an outbreak of variant poliovirus type 2 since 2021. The World Health Organization (WHO) warned today that 29 confirmed cases had been reported so far in 2025 amid the country’s protracted humanitarian crisis, declining vaccination coverage, and limited access to essential health services. These cases were reported from 10 governorates — the vast majority (28 cases) in the north — compared to 187 cases from 15 governorates in the whole of 2024.