Goal for 1990: polio eradication in the Americas.

EPI Newsl 7(3):1-2 (1985) PMID 12340770

The Pan American Helath Organization (PAHO) has announced a campaign to enadicate the indigenous transmission of wild polio virus from all countries of the Americas by 1990. This 5-year drive is viewed as a vital part of the broader World Health Organization Expanded program me on Immunization goal to achieve universal immunization against childhood diseases by 1990. Special vaccination strategies will be adapted to the neess of each country. suported by effective disease surveillance and control, proper laboratory support for diagnosis, and training of program managers and field epidemiologists. Program costs over the next 5 years are expected to total US$110 million, about 1/3 of which will come from donor countries. PAHO has emphasized that immunization programs should not be implemented at the expense of efforts to develop the health service infrastructure and that campaigns and national vaccination days should be viewed as ad hoc measures to be gradually replaced by routine immunization services. In the 1969-84 period, a total of 53,251 cases of polio were reported in the Americas. By 1984, 26 countries had achieved polio control.