diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index 59fbf5f..ea66016 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -28,5 +28,7 @@ Suggests:
     jsonlite,
     mockery,
     withr,
-    httpcode
+    httpcode,
+    cli,
+    stringr
 Config/testthat/edition: 3
diff --git a/NAMESPACE b/NAMESPACE
index 2e813dd..a7b83d0 100644
--- a/NAMESPACE
+++ b/NAMESPACE
@@ -6,5 +6,6 @@ export(get_api_date_suffix)
 export(get_polis_api_data)
 export(iterative_api_call)
 export(process_api_response)
+export(save_polis_data)
 export(update_polis_api_data)
 export(write_log_file_api)
diff --git a/R/get_api_date_suffix.R b/R/get_api_date_suffix.R
index 7321c94..289fac5 100644
--- a/R/get_api_date_suffix.R
+++ b/R/get_api_date_suffix.R
@@ -34,6 +34,24 @@ get_api_date_suffix <- function(data_type) {
     sub_activ = "SubActivity", lqas = "Lqas"
   )
 
+  # Define date fields for each data type
+  # for initial data
+  date_fields_initial <- c(
+    cases = "ParalysisOnsetDate",
+    virus = "VirusDate",
+    population = "CreatedDate",
+    env = "CollectionDate",
+    geo = "CreatedDate",
+    geo_synonym = "UpdatedDate",
+    im = "PublishDate",
+    activity = "ActivityDateFrom",
+    lab_specimen_virus = "PublishDate",
+    lab_specimen = "LastUpdateDate",
+    sub_activ = "DateFrom", lqas = "Start"
+  )
+
+  # Define date fields for each data type
+ # for updated data
   date_fields <- c(
     cases = "LastUpdateDate",
     virus = "UpdatedDate", population = "UpdatedDate",
@@ -53,6 +71,7 @@ get_api_date_suffix <- function(data_type) {
   # Return endpoint suffix and date field
   list(
     endpoint_suffix = endpoint_suffixes[[data_type]],
+    date_fields_initial = date_fields_initial[[data_type]],
     date_field = date_fields[[data_type]]
   )
 }
diff --git a/R/get_polis_api_data.R b/R/get_polis_api_data.R
index c43d0e5..ed89d7b 100644
--- a/R/get_polis_api_data.R
+++ b/R/get_polis_api_data.R
@@ -26,14 +26,15 @@
 #'                  (Human Specimen Viruses). Default is 'cases'.
 #' @param region Region code for data filtering.
 #'               Represents the WHO region from which to retrieve the data.
-#'               Default is 'AFRO' (African Region).
+#'               Possible values are AFRO; AMRO; EMRO; EURO; SEARO; WPRO Use
+#'               'Global' to retrieve global data. Default is 'AFRO'.
 #' @param select_vars Vector of variables to select from the API response.
 #'                    If NULL (default), all variables are selected.
 #' @param polis_api_key API key for authentication.
 #'                        Default is retrieved from the environment variable
 #'                        'POLIS_API_KEY'. An explicit API key can be provided
 #'                        if required.
-#'
+#' @param updated_dates Logical indicating whether to use the 'LastUpdateDate'
 #' @return A data frame containing the requested data aggregated from all pages
 #'         of the API response. Each row represents a record, and columns
 #'         correspond to the variables in the dataset.
@@ -49,13 +50,24 @@ get_polis_api_data <- function(min_date,
                                data_type = "cases",
                                region = "AFRO",
                                select_vars = NULL,
+                               updated_dates = TRUE,
                                polis_api_key) {
+
   # API Endpoint and URL Construction
   api_endpoint <- "https://extranet.who.int/polis/api/v2/"
   endpoint_suffix <- get_api_date_suffix(data_type)$endpoint_suffix
 
   # set up the dates
-  date_field <- get_api_date_suffix(data_type)$date_field
+  if (updated_dates) {
+    date_field <- get_api_date_suffix(data_type)$date_field
+  } else {
+    date_field <- get_api_date_suffix(data_type)$date_fields_initial
+  }
+
+  # set up region field
+  if (tolower(region) == "global") {
+    region_field <- NULL
+  }
 
   # set up region field name
   region_field <- if (data_type == "virus") "RegionName" else "WHORegion"
diff --git a/R/save_polis_data.R b/R/save_polis_data.R
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0c1c4ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/R/save_polis_data.R
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+#' Save Polis Data to compressed RDS File
+#'
+#' This function saves a given POLIS data object to an RDS file using a
+#' specific naming convention based on the current date. It also manages the
+#' retention of only the 5 most recent datasets in the specified directory,
+#' removing older datasets if necessary.
+#'
+#' @param polis_data The POLIS data object to be saved.
+#' @param polis_path The directory path where the RDS file will be saved. This
+#'   function will check this directory for existing datasets and will maintain
+#'   only the 5 most recent datasets, deleting older ones.
+#' @param max_datasets The max number of datasets to retain in the directory.
+#'
+#' @return Invisible NULL. This function is used for its side effect of
+#'   saving a file and potentially deleting older files, rather than for
+#'   returning a value.
+#'
+#' @examples
+#' # Assume `polis_data` is your dataset and `./polis_datasets` is your
+#' # target directory
+#' # save_polis_data(polis_data, "./polis_datasets")
+#'
+#' @export
+save_polis_data <- function(polis_data, polis_path,
+                            filname, max_datasets = 5) {
+
+  cli::cli_process_start("Saving POLIS data into a compressed RDS file.")
+
+  # generate the file name based on the current date
+  suffix_name <- sprintf("_%s.rds", format(Sys.Date(), "%Y_%V"))
+  full_path <- file.path(polis_path, paste0(filname, suffix_name))
+
+  # save polis list
+  saveRDS(polis_data, full_path, compress = "xz")
+
+  cli::cli_process_done(  )
+
+  # Check existing datasets and keep only the 5 most recent
+  existing_files <- list.files(polis_path, full.names = TRUE)
+
+  if (length(existing_files) > 5) {
+    # Sort files by date, assuming the naming convention holds the date info
+    file_dates <- sapply(existing_files, function(x) {
+      as.Date(stringr::str_extract(x, "\\d{4}_\\d{2}"), "%Y_%V")
+    })
+
+    oldest_files <- existing_files[order(
+      file_dates)][1:(length(existing_files)-5)]
+
+    cli::cli_alert_success(
+      "Removing {length(oldest_files)} old file(s) to keep top {max_datasets}.")
+
+    suppressMessages(file.remove(oldest_files))
+  }
+  cli::cli_process_done(  )
+}
diff --git a/R/update_polis_api_data.R b/R/update_polis_api_data.R
index 03e242c..6ebeb75 100644
--- a/R/update_polis_api_data.R
+++ b/R/update_polis_api_data.R
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ update_polis_api_data <- function(min_date,
                                   save_directly = FALSE,
                                   log_results = FALSE,
                                   polis_api_key = NULL) {
+
   # Construct file names for data and log
   data_file_name <- paste0(file_path, "/", data_type, "_polis_data.rds")
   log_file_name <- paste0(file_path, "/", "polis_data_update_log.xlsx")
diff --git a/man/get_polis_api_data.Rd b/man/get_polis_api_data.Rd
index 3e599d8..935ce69 100644
--- a/man/get_polis_api_data.Rd
+++ b/man/get_polis_api_data.Rd
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ get_polis_api_data(
   data_type = "cases",
   region = "AFRO",
   select_vars = NULL,
+  updated_dates = TRUE,
   polis_api_key
 )
 }
@@ -32,11 +33,14 @@ Sampling), lab_specimen (Human Specimen), lab_specimen_virus
 
 \item{region}{Region code for data filtering.
 Represents the WHO region from which to retrieve the data.
-Default is 'AFRO' (African Region).}
+Possible values are AFRO; AMRO; EMRO; EURO; SEARO; WPRO Use
+'Global' to retrieve global data. Default is 'AFRO'.}
 
 \item{select_vars}{Vector of variables to select from the API response.
 If NULL (default), all variables are selected.}
 
+\item{updated_dates}{Logical indicating whether to use the 'LastUpdateDate'}
+
 \item{polis_api_key}{API key for authentication.
 Default is retrieved from the environment variable
 'POLIS_API_KEY'. An explicit API key can be provided
diff --git a/man/save_polis_data.Rd b/man/save_polis_data.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..103a050
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/save_polis_data.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
+% Please edit documentation in R/save_polis_data.R
+\name{save_polis_data}
+\alias{save_polis_data}
+\title{Save Polis Data to compressed RDS File}
+\usage{
+save_polis_data(polis_data, polis_path, filname, max_datasets = 5)
+}
+\arguments{
+\item{polis_data}{The POLIS data object to be saved.}
+
+\item{polis_path}{The directory path where the RDS file will be saved. This
+function will check this directory for existing datasets and will maintain
+only the 5 most recent datasets, deleting older ones.}
+
+\item{max_datasets}{The max number of datasets to retain in the directory.}
+}
+\value{
+Invisible NULL. This function is used for its side effect of
+saving a file and potentially deleting older files, rather than for
+returning a value.
+}
+\description{
+This function saves a given POLIS data object to an RDS file using a
+specific naming convention based on the current date. It also manages the
+retention of only the 5 most recent datasets in the specified directory,
+removing older datasets if necessary.
+}
+\examples{
+# Assume `polis_data` is your dataset and `./polis_datasets` is your
+# target directory
+# save_polis_data(polis_data, "./polis_datasets")
+
+}
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-get_api_date_suffix.R b/tests/testthat/test-get_api_date_suffix.R
index 5058b02..41914df 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-get_api_date_suffix.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-get_api_date_suffix.R
@@ -1,9 +1,13 @@
 testthat::test_that("Get API Date Suffix Functionality", {
   # Test for valid data types
   expect_equal(get_api_date_suffix("cases"),
-               list(endpoint_suffix = "Case", date_field = "LastUpdateDate"))
+               list(endpoint_suffix = "Case",
+                    date_fields_initial = "ParalysisOnsetDate",
+                    date_field = "LastUpdateDate"))
   expect_equal(get_api_date_suffix("virus"),
-               list(endpoint_suffix = "Virus", date_field = "UpdatedDate"))
+               list(endpoint_suffix = "Virus",
+                    date_fields_initial = "VirusDate",
+                    date_field = "UpdatedDate"))
   # Add more tests for other valid data types
 
   # Test for an invalid data type