 And just a year after the World Health Organization, WHO declared the landlocked Uganda polio-free, but the crippling and sometimes deadly disease has returned to haunt the country, along with other African nations. Healthcare systems remain preoccupied with combating COVID-19, but 31 African countries, including Uganda, have recorded 1069 polio cases over the past year. Uganda's health ministry has warned that 4.6 million children, five and younger, are at a risk of contracting polio virus.