When the world embarked on polio eradication 26 years back, the goal was to complete that task by the year 2000. That target was not met, nor did the two deadlines set after that, 2004 and then 2012. The ‘Polio Eradication & Endgame Strategic Plan 2013-2018’ formulated by the World Health Organisation and its partner agencies then set the goal of ending transmission of all naturally-occurring ‘wild’ polio viruses by the end of this year. In 2012, although the deadline had been missed, things did indeed look hopeful. India had succeeded in remaining polio-free for a whole year and was taken off the list of endemic countries. Polio cases recorded worldwide that year shrank to an all-time low. But all that changed last year when the virus came roaring back and spread out of Nigeria and Pakistan to countries that had been polio-free. Over 80 per cent more polio cases were reported globally in 2013 than during the previous year. There have been 89 cases so far this year, almost twice as many as during the same period last year. “The latest strategic plan goal of interrupting transmission by the end of 2014 stands at extreme risk,” warned the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in its latest report issued recently. The Board was established four years back to provide periodic external assessments of the global effort.

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