There is no real mystery about how to do away with polio. It involves applying the same techniques and strategies that eliminated the virus from the Americas and the Western Pacific. Our central challenge is sustaining the momentum.
Immunization involves efforts that are nothing short of heroic.
The vaccine has been transported by camel in southern Sudan, by bicycle and motorbike in India, and by boat in Cambodia and Viet Nam. And in countries like Sri Lanka, El Salvador and Somalia, warring factions have put down their weapons to allow children to be immunized. These losses are utterly unacceptable. Moreover, transporting fresh polio vaccine from where it is manufactured to the remote regions where it is needed is always a relay race that requires many hands. At the starting line of that race are the vaccine producers.