11 March 2024, Port Sudan, Sudan – Sudan’s Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) will launch a polio vaccination campaign in April 2024 in response to a new emergence of variant poliovirus type 2 reported in January 2024. It was detected in six wastewater samples collected from September 2023 to January 2024 in the Port Sudan locality, Red Sea State.

The FMOH, with support from the World Health Organization (WHO), has completed field investigations and a risk assessment to determine the extent of the virus circulation. Preparations for a polio vaccination campaign in April 2024 in Red Sea, Kassala, Gedaref, River Nile, Northern, White Nile, Blue Nile and Sennar states are under way, with a differentiated approach for the rest of the states as conditions allow.