Polio endemic countries hit all-time low of four
When it started, I must admit that I never believed the Rotary Foundation had a prayer of succeeding, but the results are outstanding and show what private philanthropy can do. The Gates Foundation carries the activities of private foundations further on the world stage.
The WHO announces that the number of countries with indigenous polio has dropped to an all-time low of four, as polio eradication efforts enter a new phase involving the use of next-generation vaccines targeted at the two surviving strains of virus.
In 2006, monovalent vaccines, aimed at individual virus strains, will be the primary platform for eradication in all remaining polio-affected areas, announced the core partners in polio eradication – the World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary International, the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention and UNICEF – enabling the eradication drive to hone in on poliovirus types 1 and 3.