The Continuing Campaign to End Polio

By Laura Duncan on 02/10/2011 @ 04:45 PM

Although polio was successfully eradicated from the United States in 1979, it is still circulating in the world and remains a serious public health issue. Polio is a life-threatening disease that leaves many survivors with serious physical disabilities. It is caused by a virus, transmitted through contaminated food and water. Even though it can affect people of any age, polio is typically manifested in young children. Many of those infected (90%) do not present any symptoms, but to the remaining 10% the disease can cause paralysis in a matter of hours.

The fight against polio is not new. In 1988, the World Health Assembly of the WHO made a commitment to eradicate this disease, and organizations like Rotary International have worked for more than 20 years in this global campaign. Since then, the number of cases worldwide has dropped by more than 99%. By the end of 2006, only four countries had cases of polio: Nigeria, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Unfortunately, there are still 1500 cases a year, a number that could rise if the disease were to spread to other areas. Until infections have ceased and health authorities are confident the virus is no longer circulating, all children under five must continue to be vaccinated in developing nations. This is a difficult and costly enterprise, but one that will yield important long-term gains.

The only disease to have been successfully eradicated by human effort is smallpox. In this year’s annual letter of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates explained that eradicating polio is a more challenging endeavor, primarily because only a small number of those infected by polio show symptoms of the disease (thereby allowing the virus to spread without raising alarm), and because the polio vaccine is not as effective as that of smallpox. However, he also emphasized the need to eradicate this disease now, ensuring that in the future no child will die or be paralyzed by it.

For more information on the global fight against polio and to learn how you can help, please visit www.polioeradication.org.

Watch this animation created by Cognitive Media in partnership with the Gates Foundation, in which Bill Gates discusses the incredible lifesaving power of vaccines.

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