This October 2025 document is the eighth independent report of the Polio Transition Independent Monitoring Board (TIMB), produced following its 24th joint meeting with the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) in July 2025. Titled "The Lost Art of Future-Proofing," it delivers a comprehensive assessment of the state of polio transition planning — the process by which countries prepare to sustain critical polio-related health functions within national systems after GPEI external funding ends.

The TIMB comprises Sir Liam Donaldson (former Chief Medical Officer for England), Dr Boluwatife Lola-Dare (CHESTRAD Global, Nigeria), and Dr Senjuti Saha (Child Health Research Foundation, Bangladesh). No draft reports are shared with WHO or other organizations prior to finalization.

The report's central argument is that the global health community has lost its institutional capacity and political will to think rigorously about long-term sustainability of GPEI-supported functions — environmental surveillance networks, AFP systems, national certification committees, and laboratory infrastructure. Evidence of backsliding in transition planning timelines, inadequate costing of post-eradication activities in national health budgets, and insufficient integration of GPEI functions into national immunization programs is documented.

The Board examines transition planning performance across regions and income levels, identifies countries where planning has stalled, and provides recommendations to WHO leadership, GPEI partners, and Member States. Transition failure would risk re-emergence of poliovirus and loss of decades of investment. This report is the authoritative independent warning of where risks are greatest and what must be done.

Who should read this: WHO Director-General, GPEI partner organization senior leadership, national health ministers, GPEI transition planners, donor government health system investment officers, IMB members, global health financing advisors.

Document value: Authoritative independent assessment of polio transition planning risks and gaps. Essential for preventing transition failure from undermining the permanent eradication achievement after decades of investment.