A world without polio is closer than ever. Thus far in 2015, only 41 cases of polio have been reported in the entire world!
The progress made toward eradicating this awful disease has been truly remarkable. In 1988, key leaders joined forces to form the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) and began work toward the complete eradication of polio. At that point, polio was endemic in 125 countries and more than 350,000 people, mainly young children, were affected by polio each year.
Through the support of the GPEI, more than two and a half billion children have been immunized, 13 million kids have been spared disability, and over 250,000 deaths from polio have been averted. Eradication efforts have led to more than a 99% decrease in cases since the launch of the GPEI in 1988.
Yeah, pretty amazing.
The United States Government played a hugely important role in making this happen. The United States is one of the largest donor government contributors to the GPEI. The United States Government contributed $205m to polio eradication efforts in FY14 and $217.7m to efforts in FY15. In addition, Rotary International and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have generously contributed over $1 billion each toward the polio eradication effort.
Earlier this week, the United States Senate unanimously passed a resolution commemorating the discovery of the polio vaccine and supporting efforts to eradicate the disease. The resolution was introduced by Senator Richard Durbin.
“I remember the fear of polio and the frightening diagnoses my generation faced before Dr. Jonas Salk’s vaccine,” Senator Richard Durbin said. “The success of the polio vaccine shows us what medical research can accomplish with the right commitment. This is a decisive moment of historic opportunity. We must continue to invest in basic science research in order to reap the rewards of decades of work by the best scientific and medical minds in the world. In the words of Dr. Salk, ‘the only way we can fail is by stopping too soon.’”
Specifically, this important resolution commends the work of Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin for developing effective, safe vaccines for polio and supports the goals and ideals of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. The resolution also encourages the international community of governments and nongovernmental organizations to stay committed to the eradication of polio. Most importantly, the resolution calls for the federal government to continue funding the Global Polio Eradication Initiative and for biomedical and basic scientific research so that more life-saving discoveries can be made.
Polio vaccination at the UN-House Protection of Civilians (PoC) 3 site in Juba, South Sudan. The Ministry of Health of the Republic of South Sudan is conducting the fourth and last round of its national immunization campaign for 2014, with the support of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) and working with local non-governmental organization Magna. The campaign is targeting children aged 0 – 5 years and aims to immunize 2.4 million children nationwide.
Less than 1% of polio cases remain. At such a critical juncture, it is really important that the United States Government continues investing in polio eradication efforts. Together humanity can yield the ultimate return: future generations of children free from this devastating disease.
This Saturday, October 24th, is recognized as World Polio Day. The aim of this day is to celebrate the extraordinary efforts of the international community to reduce the spread of the disease, while advocating for further actions to eradicate it completely. We’ve got to keep the momentum going by encouraging world leaders to strengthen their support of this work.
The United States, and other leading donor countries in the fight to end polio - such as Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom - must come together to reach every child with the life-saving polio vaccine.
With renewed political and financial will, the world can eradicate polio for good. Go to TAKE ACTION NOW, and tweet at UK Prime Minister David Cameron, the Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Canada's PM elect Justin Pierre James Trudeau to commit to end polio.