Can paralytic poliomyelitis be eliminated?

The question of whether paralytic poliomyelitis can be eliminated can be approached either from the theoretic and scientific perspective or from the practical perspective of a program. From the former perspective, the answer is probably yes; from the latter, the answer would be that global eradication of this disease cannot be achieved by the year 2000. The global eradication of smallpox was a remarkable achievement and is held up as an example to show that the deliberate worldwide elimination of a human infectious-disease agent can be scheduled and accomplished. However, there are significant differences in the epidemiology and in the control programs for smallpox and poliomyelitis that make the global eradication of poliomyelitis more difficult. Presently, scarce resources for improving health throughout the world cannot be easily diverted for the specific purpose of eradicating paralytic poliomyelitis. The control of poliomyelitis for the next decade will have to proceed at the same relative pace as other major disease control programs of the World Health Organization, such as the Expanded Programme on Immunization and the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade. After 1990, the extent to which these programs have controlled or regionally eliminated paralytic poliomyelitis can be assessed. It may be more appropriate then to ask the question, can paralytic poliomyelitis be eliminated?