Global Eradication


With the availability of a successful vaccine, mass immunization programs were established around the world. Global organizations such as Rotary International, the World Health Assembly, and national governments have become committed to raising funds and awareness for polio immunization.

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative is the largest internationally-coordinated public health initiative in the world and states that its goal is to "ensure that no child will ever again know the crippling effects of polio." The GPEI is spearheaded by national governments, the World Health Organization, Rotary International, UNICEF, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. With global cooperation and monetary support from 200 countries and 20 million volunteers, more than two billion children around the world have been immunized to polio.

After the eradication of smallpox in 1979, the WHO set out to eradicate polio in 1988. At that time, the disease was endemic in 125 countries and approximately 325,000 children were paralyzed.

By 2004, only 32 cases had been reported worldwide. The Americas were certified polio-free in 1994, the Western Pacific in 2000, and Europe in 2002.

Polio remains endemic in only four countries: India, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. Poor hygienic standards and high birth rates allow the virus to remain a silent killer and spread to a large susceptible population.

Because the OPV vaccine is cheaper and easier to administer than the IPV vaccine, it is most commonly used in the eradication effort. However, because this vaccine can occasionally mutate in about one case per 2.5 million, only the inactivated vaccine is used after polio has been certified as eradicated.

The absence of endemic polio from the vast majority of the world is a testament to the strength of polio eradication strategies, which have triumphed in challenging geographic and political settings.