News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – In the wake of recent killings of polio vaccinators in Pakistan, some questions are being raised about the all-out push to eradicate polio, but the World Health Organization (WHO) says the world can't afford to back off on the eradication drive now.

(CIDRAP News) – The world has the tools to eradicate polio, but it's unclear if countries have the political and social will to fully implement and finance emergency plans, a spokesman for the World Health Organization's (WHO's) Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) said yesterday to mark World Polio Day.

The observance is held on Oct 24, the birth date of Jonas Salk, the US virologist who invented the polio vaccine.

(CIDRAP News) – Saying recent major gains in the fight against polio are at risk, global health groups yesterday announced an Emergency Action Plan (EAP) to try to eradicate the disease by driving it out of its last three strongholds: Nigeria, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

(CIDRAP News) – Polio cases in Africa were almost halved in 2011, but the disease shows worrisome trends in some countries, health officials reported today as the continent geared up to vaccinate 111 million children against the disease.

Jan 12, 2012 (CIDRAP News) – For the first time in its history, India has gone for nearly a year with no new polio cases, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) announced today.

The country—one of four where polio is still considered endemic—will achieve the 1-year milestone on Jan 13, if no new wild polio virus (WPV) cases are reported before then and all pending samples test negative in the next few weeks, the GPEI said.