MAE: WHO has updated the list of countries for which polio vaccination is required

The World Health Organization (WHO) has updated the list of countries for which polio vaccination is required for residents or long-term visitors - Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Yemen and the People's Republic of China, the Foreign Ministry (MAE) informed on Thursday, agerpres reports.

According to an MAE release , it is possible that people who intend to plan a trip will not have the right to leave the territory of these countries, regardless of the border crossing point (road, naval, air), without the documents certifying the vaccination against polio. In order to avoid these situations, the citizens of the respective countries, who apply for a visa for Romania, can be requested the international vaccination card in which the immunization is registered.

According to the quoted source, for the citizens who have not been vaccinated against polio in the last 12 months, the immunization will be done four weeks before the trip or, in case of emergency, even before it. The immunization will be notified on the international vaccination certificate, according to the International Sanitary Regulations 2005, and will accompany the travel documents.

The IHR (International Health Regulation) Emergency Committee has decided to extend the measure of extension of the State of Public Health Emergency of International Importance (USPII), following the recent assessment of the danger of the spread of wild polio virus and/or vaccine derived. Following the risk assessment, which takes into account the travel area, length of stay, activities and vaccination history, the WHO has updated the list of countries for which polio vaccination is requested for residents or long-term visitors as follows: the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Yemen and the People's Republic of China.

Vaccination is encouraged and recommended for persons traveling to and from: the Republic of Benin, Burkina Faso, the Republic of Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Chad, Ivory Coast, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Gambia, the Republic of Ghana, the Republic of Guinea, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Republic of Liberia, the Republic of Mali, the Republic of Niger, the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Republic of Senegal, the Republic of Sierra Leone, the Federal Republic of Somalia, the Republic of Sudan, the Republic of South Sudan, the Republic of Tajikistan, the Republic of Togo, the Republic of Uganda, without proof of vaccination, in the last year, in the international vaccination certificate, states the MAE.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recommends consulting the dedicated Internet pages: http://www.cnscbt.ro/index.php/polio, http://www.who.int/en/,https://www.who.int/news/item/20-08-2021-statement-of-the-twenty-ninth-polio-ihr-emergency-committee, https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241580496, https: // ec .europa.eu / consularprotection / index_ro, www.mae.ro and reminds that Romanians traveling abroad have at their disposal the application "Travel safely" (http://www.mae.ro/app_cs), which provides information and advice as well as the text alert service related to the information campaign "A text message can save your life!".

At the same time, the MAE reminds the Romanian citizens that before any trip to find out about the security situation in the destination country, consulting the section "Travel Alerts" on the MAE website: http://www.mae.ro/travel-alerts.