Progress towards the global eradication of poliomyelitis.

Poliomyelitis has been virtually eliminated from the industrialized countries by mass campaigns conducted with oral polio vaccine (OPV). In 1988, the World Health Assembly set the goal of global eradication of poliomyelitis by the year 2000. The current WHO strategy for eradication uses three primary activities beyond routine immunization with OPV. They are: (i) improved disease surveillance, (ii) building a global network of laboratories, and (iii) supplemental immunization strategies which include mass immunization campaigns with OPV at the national level, and targeted campaigns at the local level. Eradication of polio from the Region of the Americas is close and may have already been achieved. In other regions, the number of reported polio cases has declined, largely as a result of high immunization coverage. As more countries implement polio eradication strategies, the number of polio cases will continue to fall until eradication is achieved.