ADDIS ABABA, 17 July 2023 | The polio outbreak response assessment (OBRA) in Ethiopia started with a briefing and orientation meeting on 17 July 2023 where the representatives from MoH, WHO Ethiopia, UNICEF Ethiopia, EPHI and partners were in attendance, and it will continue until 28 July 2023.

The Ethiopia OBRA assessment aims to assess whether the vaccination and surveillance response is sufficient to detect and stop the transmission of the Type II circulating Vaccine Derived Polio Virus (cVDPV2) outbreak, and to identify what is needed to address gaps. The OBRA will also provide an opportunity to assess the overall progress towards polio eradication in Ethiopia and to provide additional technical recommendations to assist the country to meet its goals as per the established standards.

“I believe the OBRA assessment will produce key evidence which will be useful to identify the gaps and challenges and addressing them will contribute to improvements”, said Marjorie Mupandare, Northern Ethiopia Incident Manager speaking on behalf of Dr. Nonhlanhla Dlamini, Acting WHO Ethiopia Representative. 

Dr. Pascal Mkanda, OBRA team leader and a former Director for the Polio Eradication Programme in the World Health Organization’s Regional Office for Africa (AFRO), also highlighted the importance of this assessment to learn the progress in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) effort in the country, identify gaps and challenges and provide actionable recommendations for the next phase. 
The OBRA independent team has 18 members led by WHO Head Quarters and Africa Regional Office. They were selected from the GPEI partners which includes WHO, UNICEF, CDC, BMGF, Rotary, and Gavi to conduct the assessment in collaboration with Ministry of Health Ethiopia and Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI), and partners. The assessment will be at National level and in six Regions (Afar, Tigray, Amhara, Oromia, Somali, and Addis Ababa), with field visits to Regions, Woredas, Health Facilities and communities. 
Officers from national and subnational levels from Government and partners are expected to join the global OBRA team during the field visits. WHO and UNICEF Ethiopia are providing the logistics, coordination, and other necessary support for the success of the OBRA. 
Ethiopia has joined the polio eradication initiative in 1996 and has been implementing the recommended Polio Eradication Initiative strategies including conducting a series of national and sub-national supplementary immunization activities (SIAs), acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) case-based surveillance, strengthening the polio lab and strengthening routine immunization. The country introduced Inactivated Polio Virus (IPV) vaccine against poliomyelitis in 2015 as part of global polio eradication efforts extending additional protection to the oral polio vaccine (OPV).

Wild poliovirus (WPV) in Ethiopia was interrupted in December 2001, nevertheless, the country had been continued to experience several WPV importations between 2004 and 2014. The last imported WPV was reported on 05 January 2014.

In June 2017, Ethiopia was certified wild polio free status following the standard certification process conducted by the Africa Regional Certification Commission for Polio Eradication (ARCC). 

However, Ethiopia has remained at high risk for importation and circulation of VDPV and WPV due to high cross border population movement and low population immunity. Recently, Ethiopia has been affected by several cVDPV2 outbreaks during the period 2019-2022. As response to these outbreaks, the country has been conducting successful mOPV2 /nOPV2 SIAs in the cVDPV2 outbreak affected and nearby risk zones. 

Though there is no cVDPV2 reported in 2023 until this time (July 2023), Ethiopia is still at high risk of importation and circulation of VDPV and has low immunity against importation of WPV. 

The OBRA team will brief the national authorities on their findings before their departure and the WHO regional office will continue to review and follow up the country polio outbreak status.

WHO Ethiopia remains committed to work alongside the government and partners to support the implementation of the OBRA recommendations and to enhance the overall implementation of GPEI strategies.