"Target 2000 -- A World Without Polio" is the theme for the
annual World Health Day on April 7, 1995 (1). In 1988, the World
Health Organization (WHO) established as an objective the global
eradication of poliomyelitis by the year 2000 (2). Progress toward
this goal has included the elimination of endemic polio from the
Western Hemisphere and the global reduction in reported polio by
more than 70% since 1988 -- achievements that also have underscored
the feasibility of eradicating this disease. In addition,
strategies recommended by WHO for achieving polio eradication have
been implemented in many countries with endemic polio (3). For
example, the number of countries with endemic polio that have
conducted National Immunization Days (NIDs) increased from 15 in
1988 to approximately 36 in 1995; an additional 25 countries are
planning to conduct NIDs later this year. The global partnership
among governments and organizations working toward this common goal
includes polio-endemic countries, WHO, Rotary International, United
Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the International Development
Banks, and the governments of Australia, Canada, Japan, and the
United States. On World Health Day, a program will be conducted in
Washington, D.C., by the Pan American Health Organization and the
WHO Regional Office for the Americas.
Additional information about the global polio eradication
initiative is available from WHO headquarters in Geneva, the
regional offices of WHO, and CDC.
Reported by: Special Program for Vaccines and Immunization, Pan
American Health Organization, Washington, DC; Global Program for
Vaccines and Immunization, World Health Organization, Geneva.
Respiratory and Enterovirus Br, National Center for Infectious
Diseases; International Health Program Office; Polio Eradication
Activity, National Immunization Program, CDC.
References
Global Program for Vaccines and Immunization, World Health
Organization. World Health Day 1995 information kit. Geneva: World
Health Organization, January 1995.
World Health Assembly. Global eradication of poliomyelitis by
the year 2000. Geneva: World Health Organization, 1988. (Resolution
WHA41.28).
Hull HF, Ward NA, Hull BP, Milstien JB, de Quadros C. Paralytic
poliomyelitis: seasoned strategies, disappearing disease. Lancet
1994;343:1331-7.
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