Polio will go, acute flaccid paralysis will stay

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative has made tremendous progress since its launch by WHO in 1988, reducing polio cases from an estimated 350 000 in 1988 to about 407 in 2013. The number of countries that have never interrupted wild poliovirus transmission decreased from more than 125 to only three countries (Nigeria, Afghanistan, and Pakistan). In 1999, the eradication of wild poliovirus type 2 was achieved. The last case of poliovirus type 3 occurred on Nov 10, 2012, in Nigeria. The remaining goal of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative is to stop the transmission of all wild poliovirus and vaccine-derived poliovirus through supplementary immunisation activities, and environmental and acute flaccid paralysis surveillance (read more)