Poliovirus eradication initiatives in dire straits: Updates from Pakistan

摘要

Early in the 20th century, polio epidemics in industrialized nations made it the most feared disease, paralyzing countless children. In the mid of the 20th century, introduction of effective vaccines reduced the number of polio cases from the developed countries, however, many developing countries continued to experiences unrestrained transmission of the virus. In 1988, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) was launched by the World Health Assembly with the aim to eradicate polio from the whole world. This program was a global collaborative effort, headed by national governments, WHO, UNICEF and other agencies. Billions of children have been immunized and the number of wild polio virus (WPV) cases has declined by 99%, since then [1,2].