The 1988 polio epidemic in Israel: an analysis and consequences

This article examines the health crisis that followed the diagnosis of 15 cases of poliomyelitis in Israel late in 1988. The article reviews the recommendations, decisions and activities undertaken by the health authorities during the episode. Consequently, it analyses the role in policy making of each of the principal players: the leadership of the Ministry of Health, the professional Advisory Committee and the executive level of the Public Health Service. The conclusion, that changes in policy are expedited by crises, appears to hold for every health system. In Israel those changes were reflected by the introduction of a new immunization policy and, most important, the establishment of a national Ministry of the Environment.