Polio war tough but progressing

Wiping out polio is proving tougher than expected, but world health experts say its demise is near.

In 1988, there were 350,000 cases; this year, just over 500 cases. But it’s no time to drop the guard, experts say.

“As long as there is polio somewhere in the world, we’ve learned, it is just one traveler away from being anywhere in the world … including here,” said Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Gerberding and leaders of the World Health Organization and UNICEF spoke Tuesday in Chicago at the 100th anniversary of the service group Rotary International.

Vaccination campaigns have been successful, said Hamid Jafari, a director at CDC, adding that Asian nations are “on track for stopping transmission this year.”

Yet pockets of concern remain. Lee Jong-wook, director-general of WHO, said cases imported from Nigeria, which suspended vaccinations for about a year, “remind us that we must continue to protect the children” and to enlist the commitment of governments to promote anti-polio efforts.

He said $50 million is needed by July to pay for immunization campaigns through this year, and $200 million is needed for 2006.

The goal once was to stop polio by 2000. Now health experts are aiming for next year.