Number of wild polio cases in Africa 1980-2016
As of August 2020, Africa was declared free of wild poliovirus, a disease that formerly paralyzed thousands of kids every year across the continent. The last cases of wild polio in Africa were registered in 2016, in Nigeria. In the last 24 years, a campaign against the illness has been done in the region, reaching African children, even in remote and insecure areas. Estimates indicate that nine billion vaccine doses were provided, while 1.8 million of wild polio cases were averted in the period. Despite the good results, Africa still has to fight against a circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus, that infects hundreds of people in areas with only partial vaccinations.