Esteemed Chair, Your Excellencies, Director-General,

Ours is the only remaining WHO region with endemic wild poliovirus.

We have an immense responsibility, which the region has accepted with confidence and commitment.

As 2024 began, we were on the verge of eradicating wild poliovirus in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the last two polio-endemic countries. But then came a resurgence, alongside outbreaks of variant poliovirus in Somalia, Sudan, Yemen and the Gaza Strip.

I was privileged to visit Afghanistan and Pakistan twice last year. I saw amazing work by frontline health workers. We need to strengthen their capacities so they can do even more.