Polio is on the brink of becoming only the second human communicable disease to be eradicated, after smallpox. So why were representatives at this week’s World Health Assembly so nervous?
“We have a lot to do in order to reach the complete eradication goal set for the end of 2026,” the delegate from Monaco said during a session Wednesday. “COVID-19 demonstrated the fragility of the progress made.” It also interrupted routine vaccination efforts, increasing the number of children who are at risk of contracting the virus.
That’s why, 35 years after the Global Polio Eradication Initiative was launched at WHA, delegates celebrated significant gains — Aiden O’Leary, director of polio eradication at the World Health Organization, told the WHA that 20 million people who can walk might not have been able to if they have contracted the virus — while warning that those steps forward are extremely fragile. And they pressed for greater financial commitments to improve vaccination and surveillance efforts to reach full eradication.
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Andrew Green@_andrew_green
Andrew Green, a 2025 Alicia Patterson Fellow, works as a contributing reporter for Devex from Berlin.
