eradication of polio on health
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Polio, a viral disease that can cause paralysis and sometimes death, is on the cusp of becoming only the second disease to be eradicated from the world. Polio often spreads among dense populations amid poor sanitation, and occurs most frequently in the summer. Children under age five are the most vulnerable.
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) has driven a 99% reduction in polio cases during the last two decades, from nearly 350,000 cases in 1988 to fewer than 1,500 in 2010. Improved vaccines and immunization programs have spurred the decline. Today, polio is endemic to only three countries: Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The discovery of an effective polio vaccine by Jonas Salk in 1955 gave the world hope against this terrible disease. Salk’s inactivated polio vaccine (IPV), along with Albert Sabin’s oral polio vaccine (OPV) discovery in 1963, have been key factors in global immunization efforts, bringing us closer than ever to complete eradication of polio.
This accomplishment is due in large part to the efforts and contributions of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative which was established in 1988. Spearheaded by Rotary International, the WHO, UNICEF and US CDC,—and other partners such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation—GPEI has raised and donated nearly US$10 billion to the eradication cause and immunized 2.5 billion children since its inception.