The United States is at the moment under threat from a Polio-like disease which is infecting young children, with possible deaths on the horizon.
Recent outbreaks such as this serve to remind the world of the kind of progress which has been made since the vaccines were developed, with only a select few countries yet to fully extinguish the disease from existence.
These few countries are Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria, which are lacking in the means to completely end the fight against the deadly infection.
Top World Health Organisation (WHO) officials have now addressed the issue, saying future generations are owed a world where Polio is no longer a threat.
Michael Zaffran, WHO director of Polio Eradication, talked about how far efforts have come to whittle the disease down to just a handful of cases per year.
The health official talked at a conference titled ‘The Global Effort to Eradicate Polio’, held by pharmaceutical company Sanofi Pasteur’s vaccines division.
Mr Zaffran said: “This year we’ve had 22 cases caused by the wild polio virus in only two countries in the World, in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
“We’ve really reached a stage where we are closer than we’ve ever been to eradicating the disease.”
“That’s why it is not time to stop this effort, we need to actually go the extra mile even though we’ve missed deadlines, and we’ve taken more time than the world expected us to do.”
“We have really reached a stage where we cannot stop now.”
Mr Zaffran also warned the cases of Polio could once again skyrocket if the World was to take a step back from elimination.
He said: “If we were to stop the efforts and no longer strive to actually eradicate the wild virus we could very soon within a period of 10 years perhaps have 100,000 or 200,000 cases every year again.
“We owe it to the children of the world to actually finish the job. “
According to Mr Zaffran, even after the wild Polio virus has been certifiably eliminated, vaccinations should continue to ensure complete security.
He said: “Within one year approximately after certification of the eradication of the wild virus, we will stop altogether the administration of the oral polio vaccine, and only rely on the inactive polio virus vaccine for protecting population.
“The strategic advisory group of experts on immunisation – which advises the director general of the WHO – recommended the vaccination against polio with the inactivated polio virus vaccine should continue for at least 10 years.”
This means even if the virus was eliminated tomorrow, worldwide efforts to contain it would not cease for at least a decade.
When will Polio be eradicated?
There is no concrete deadline for when Polio could be eradicated, as areas such as Afghanistan make it incredibly difficult to supply people with vaccines.
In order for the disease to be effectively stopped in its tracks, every single child must be vaccinated against it.
At the moment, the WHO is 99 percent of the way to eradicating Polio, and it will be impossible to predict when the final one percent will be complete.
The WHO remains optimistic however, stating: “The world can be free of polio – with everyone’s commitment, from parent to government worker and political leader to the international community.”