Polio response in Ukraine strengthened, as local laboratories receive WHO accreditation

The time needed to carry out poliovirus intratypic differentiation in Ukraine has just gone from weeks to days - allowing appropriate responses to a polio outbreak to be initiated without delay.

The reason? Two laboratories in Ukraine have just passed a proficiency test, gaining WHO accreditation to differentiate between wild, vaccine and vaccine-derived polioviruses.

"We are proud of these results of many years of cooperation, since the WHO accreditation is not only a recognition of the competence of specialists, but also an important step on Ukraine's path to European integration. This proves that these laboratories fully comply with international standards of quality and reliability. This, in turn, brings us closer to one of WHO's important goals - the eradication of polio worldwide," said Jarno Habicht, WHO Representative in Ukraine. 

While previously all poliovirus samples detected in Ukraine had to be sent to the National Institute for Health and Welfare in Helsinki, Finland, which serves as the WHO Regional Reference Laboratory for polio, now this procedure is carried out entirely within Ukraine.

Building capacity amid war

The timeliness of response to a poliovirus event or poliomyelitis (polio) outbreak depends on the prompt receipt of final laboratory results from specialized WHO accredited laboratories.

Robust epidemiological surveillance, supported by professional laboratory services, is also fundamental for a successful polio eradication.

As part of the WHO global and regional polio laboratory networks, laboratories in Ukraine have in recent decades improved, implemented modern methodologies, participated in international training courses and gradually moved closer to meeting the highest standards of polio diagnostics.

But the war in Ukraine has, since 2022, posed extreme challenges for the health-care system and the polio programme. For example, it has been challenging to quickly ship samples abroad, due to the lack of flight connections.

Boosting surveillance effectiveness

With WHO support, specialists from the national laboratory at the Ukrainian Public Health Centre in Kyiv and a subnational laboratory at the regional Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in Odesa underwent training in the Helsinki Regional Reference Laboratory, received the necessary reagents and were sent a test panel of 10 coded poliovirus samples.

"This step will significantly improve the effectiveness of epidemiological surveillance of polio and strengthen the health system's readiness to respond quickly," explained Dr Iryna Demchyshyna, Head of the National Reference Laboratory for the Diagnosis of HIV/AIDS, Viral and Particularly Dangerous Pathogens at the Ukrainian Public Health Centre.

Using the polymerase chain reaction method, they successfully performed the intratypic differentiation of all samples in the panel, with an accuracy of over 95% - well above the minimum required level of 90%. This confirmed their ability to carry out state-of-the-art testing and provided the basis for the official accreditation of the 2 laboratories.

"I have been working in the national laboratory since 1998, when Ukraine first joined the Global Polio Eradication Initiative . This achievement is the result of many years of teamwork. We have proven that we are capable of conducting such research independently," Dr Demchyshyna concluded.