Wild poliovirus once paralyzed 7,000 children a week. In 2023, that number was only 12 children (all in a remote area between Pakistan and Afghanistan) and it’s been 11 weeks since the last case of wild polio was reported. This progress is possible because of brilliant innovators who discovered breakthroughs and frontline heroes who made sure that solutions reached children, even in the most remote parts of the world. And so much of that was possible because of philanthropy: Rotary International, the Gates foundation, and other organizations dedicated to a future where polio is a thing of the past. (adapted from the Gates Foundation).
With polio, a 99.999% reduction is great BUT NOT GOOD ENOUGH… The scourge of polio is not officially over until the world has three years of ZERO reported cases. Then, it is truly a Polio Free world.