Global Polio Eradication Initiative: annual report 2017: securing a lasting world free of all polioviruses

Overview

Since the launch of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) in 1988, the incidence of polio has been reduced by more than 99%, from an estimated more than 350 000 cases every year in 125 endemic countries, to 22 cases in 2017 due to WPV reported from just two countries, and 96 cases due to cVDPV2 from a further two countries. Polio is now at its lowest levels in history, with fewer cases reported from fewer areas, and the world has a unique opportunity to eradicate a human pathogen, for only the second time in history after the eradication of smallpox in 1977.

As great as the opportunity is, however, so are the stakes. Failure to eradicate polio would result in a drastic resurgence of the disease globally and, within the next 10 years, the world could again see 200 000 new cases, every single year. This would be a humanitarian catastrophe that must be averted at all costs, and that is why the Emergency Committee under the International Health Regulations maintains its position that the eradication of polio continues to represent a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

The good news is that the eradication strategies outlined in the Endgame Plan, if fully financed and implemented, form the correct approach to achieve a lasting polio-free world. It is therefore in our own hands to achieve success, and to secure a world permanently free of polio for all generations to come.