World Polio Day

The World Health Organization (WHO) seeks to eradicate polio by means of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, which is the biggest existing health partnership between the governmental and private sectors. To date, it has managed to reduce polio incidence by 99%. Therefore, polio exists now only in the countries suffering a drop in the level of health services. As such, the sought-after goal of the initiative is to vaccinate each child, without exception, with anti-polio vaccine.

Key Facts on Polio:

Polio (poliomyelitis) mainly affects children under five years of age.
In each 200 infections, only one leads to irreversible paralysis (usually in the legs). Among those paralyzed, 5% to 10% die when their breathing muscles become immobilized.
Polio cases have decreased by over 99% since 1988, from an estimated 350.000 cases then, to 406 reported cases in 2013. The reduction is the result of the global effort to eradicate the disease.
In 2013, only three countries in the world remain polio-endemic, down from more than 125 in 1988. The remaining countries are Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan.
As long as a single child remains infected, children in all countries are at risk of contracting polio.