Polio To Be Eradicated By 2018

Date: Apr-03-2013The World Health Organization has stated that they aim to eradicate polio by the year 2018. Since 1988, when the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) was launched, immunization efforts have significantly reduced the number of polio cases. However, in order to achieve full eradication of the disease, there needs to be a great deal more funding.

They estimate that the six year plan to eradicate the polio will cost close to $5.5 billion.

Through a series of immunization efforts, the incidence of polio has decreased by more than 99 percent since 1988 - when it was endemic in more than 125 countries.

The WHO and the Gates Foundation - a major supporter of the GPEI - announced that the goal is indeed reachable, especially considering that the number of polio cases has dropped to only 223 per year.

Polio is a highly contagious life-threatening viral infection caused by the poliovirus. It usually enters the environment in the feces of someone who is infected and spreads easily via contaminated water or food.

In its most debilitating form, polio can cause paralysis and even death.

Polioviruses have caused millions of deaths and disabilities worldwide

There are two vaccines available to fight polio - the inactivated poliovirus (IPV) and the oral polio vaccine (OPV). The first polio vaccine was made in 1953.

On the 27th of September 2012, several heads of states as well as officials from donor countries attended a United Nation's meeting and pledged to make sure their country's health departments would do everything possible to eradicate polio in their countries.

The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, said:

"This decisive moment is a matter of health and justice. Every child should have the right to start life with equal protection from this disease. That's why I have made eradicating polio a top priority for my second term as Secretary-General."

Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a major donor to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), said:

"The evidence is clear: if we all do our part, we can and will end this disease. But we must act quickly and give ourselves the very best chance to succeed. When we defeat polio, it will motivate us to aim for other great health and development milestones."

The number of countries that are still affected by polio has dropped from 125 in 1988 to just three today - Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria.

Last year WHO announced that India, once a polio hotspot, had been polio-free for over a year.

The video below is of Bill Gates two years ago. He was asked why he became interested in eradicating polio:

Written by Joseph Nordqvist

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