Polio around the world

According to the WHO, since the beginning of this initiative, the number of polio cases has decreased by more than 99%, from 350,000 cases in more than 125 countries to 1604 cases reported in 2009. In 2009 alone, more than 361 million children were vaccinated in 40 countries around the world. Today, only three countries in the world remain endemic due to war and a limited health network that hinders vaccine distribution efforts: Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Polio was declared eradicated in India in 2014. This is a historic decline that raises hopes that this disease will become the second disease to be completely eradicated by humans (the first being smallpox in 1979).

However, there is no room for complacency until complete eradication is achieved. In 2009-2010, 23 previously polio-free countries were re-infected with polio due to importation of the virus. Until the polio virus is completely eradicated, the risk of infection remains for all individuals who have not been vaccinated. Hence the importance of making final efforts to achieve eradication as soon as possible.