World Polio Day, on 24 October, is when the world comes together to celebrate the determination that has brought us 99% of the way to ending polio, and reflect on the heights we must scale to defeat the disease completely.
This year, Africa was declared free of wild poliovirus, a testimony to the outstanding work of thousands of health workers and their supporters over many decades.
Despite this, 2020 may be the toughest year polio eradicators have ever faced. In the last eight months, immunization services have taken a devastating hit.
An estimated 80 million children under one may have missed critical vaccines. Vaccine-preventable diseases – including polio – have spread in the most vulnerable contexts.