What does the Global Polio Eradication Initiative do?
David Craig
Updated on April 02, 2026
The goal of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative is to complete the eradication and containment of all wild, vaccine-related and Sabin polioviruses, such that no child ever again suffers paralytic poliomyelitis.
Who launched Global Polio Eradication Initiative?
Soon thereafter, in 1988, the World Health Assembly launched the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) – constituted as a public-private partnership led by national governments and spearheaded by the World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary International, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
What is polio eradication Programme?
India committed to resolution passed by World Health Assembly for global polio eradication in 1988. National Immunization Day (NID) commonly known as Pulse Polio Immunization programme was launched in India in 1995, and is conducted twice in early part of each year.
Which vaccine is being used in the world wide polio eradication program?
The inactivated polio vaccine (IPV, or Salk) contains trivalent fully inactivated virus, administered by injection.
Who are the main backers of polio eradication?
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative is a public-private partnership led by national governments with six partners – the World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary International, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and …
What strategies are they using to eradicate this disease polio?
The basic strategies to eradicate polio are: attaining high routine coverage with at least three doses of OPV; conducting national immunization days (NIDs) in polio endemic countries; establishing a sensitive system of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) surveillance to track wild poliovirus circulation; and conducting ” …
Can polio be eradicated?
The annual number of wild poliovirus cases has declined by more than 99.9% worldwide from an estimated 350,000 in 1988 when the Global Polio Eradication Initiative was launched. Of the three serotypes of wild poliovirus, type 2 was certified as eradicated in 2015 and type 3 was certified as eradicated in 2018.
When did they stop giving oral polio vaccine?
OPV was recommended for use in the United States for almost 40 years, from 1963 until 2000. The results have been miraculous: Polio was eliminated from the United States in 1979 and from the Western Hemisphere in 1991. Since 2000, only IPV is recommended to prevent polio in the United States.
Why polio has not been eradicated?
Regardless of the type of vaccine being used, the primary impediment to making polio the second human disease (after smallpox) to be eradicated is that polio transmission has never been stopped in the Afghan-Pakistan region.
Which organizations are our partners in polio eradication?
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative is a public-private partnership led by national governments with six core partners – the World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary International, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), UNICEF, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.