Paralytic poliomyelitis can be eliminated

Since the introduction and widespread use of inactivated and oral poliovirus vaccines, there has been a continued and increasing commitment to worldwide poliomyelitis control. The eradication of poliomyelitis in certain countries, smallpox eradication worldwide, the World Health Organization's (WHO) Expanded Programme on Immunization, and advances in poliovirus vaccine production augur well for worldwide elimination within the next few decades. The success of any such program rests firmly upon scientific feasibility, intensive epidemiologic surveillance, and economic justification. The development of a variety of disease-specific control/prevention programs worldwide have improved communicable disease reporting in many countries and established health-care infrastructure as well. Equally important has been the emergence of the concept of epidemiologic surveillance. The success of poliomyelitis elimination in large parts of the world, the WHO commitment, and the tragic, visible effects of poliomyelitis are sufficiently strong arguments to persuade the countries of the world to make the necessary effort to eliminate poliomyelitis within the next generation.