Polio eradication: Time for introspection

Polio eradication.

The goal of polio eradication in the Western Pacific Region is within reach. The last case of polio seen in the region occurred in Cambodia in March 1997 and the region aims to be certified polio-free by the World Health Organization (WHO) in the year 2000. The Global Commission for Certification of Eradication of Poliomyelitis has specified three criteria to be fulfilled by countries in order ...

Polio eradication in India: pulse polio immunization.

The magnitude of the public health program for the eradication of poliomyelitis launched by the Government of India and the State Governments has few parallels. Over 87.77 million children, including 79.29 million children less than three years of age, were given a dose of oral polio on one day throughout the country on 9 December 1995. In the second round on 20 January 1996 over 93.118 million...

Polio eradication, and after...

The polio eradication campaign: time to shift the goal.

The social rejection of the polio eradication campaign in endemic countries challenges an assumption underlying the goal itself: the full compliance of an entire population to a public health programme. The polio campaign, which has been an extraordinary public health enterprise, is at risk of becoming irremediably unpopular if the eradication goal is pursued at all costs. The Global Polio Erad...

Global Polio Eradication – Way Ahead

In 1988, the World Health Assembly resolved to eradicate poliomyelitis by the year 2000. Although substantial progress was achieved by 2000, global polio eradication proved elusive. In India, the goal was accomplished in 2011, and the entire South-East Asia Region was certified as polio-free in 2014. The year 2016 marks the lowest wild poliovirus type 1 case count ever, the lowest number of pol...