The world’s progress in fighting polio might be one of the best-kept secrets in global health.
Since 1988, the number of annual cases has dropped more than 99.9 percent. There used to be an estimated 350,000 children paralyzed by polio every year; so far this year, there have been just 48 cases. Only two countries, Pakistan and Afghanistan, have never been free of the disease. And yet I’m often surprised to hear how many people don’t know about this mind-blowing progress.
The credit goes to an international coalition of people fighting the disease: the volunteers and front-line health workers who go out and deliver vaccines, the leaders who make it a priority, the funders who underwrite the work. (For example, support from the United Arab Emirates has been key to vaccinating children in Pakistan.) Thanks to all these efforts, we are achingly close to eradicating polio. Now we need to finish the job.
October 24 is World Polio Day, and I wanted to mark the occasion by writing a thank-you letter to everyone involved.
Continued:
http://www.gatesnotes.com/Health/World-Pol...
Posted By: How May I Help You NC
Thursday, October 22nd 2015 at 12:37PM
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