The polio moon shot

This editorial ran in the Washington Post:

Wonderful as it is to recall the glories of the manned space program there were also setbacks, disasters, disappointments.

Something similar is happening now with polio and the world’s longest and most ambitious quest to eradicate the poliovirus, which is highly contagious, largely strikes children under five and can cause permanent paralysis.

Thanks to vaccination, the eradication effort is closer to success today than at any time in 30 years. Yet all of a sudden, a new outbreak has appeared in Syria. Is the goal about to be lost?

Not exactly, but the mixture of optimism and worry is warranted. In the mid-1980s, polio paralyzed more than 350,000 children a year in 125 countries. So far this year, the last three endemic countries have reported a total of only six cases.

The numbers are so low today that eradication may indeed be within reach. On June 12, philanthropists and governments once again backed the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, a public-private partnership. At the Rotary International convention in Atlanta, $1.2 billion was pledged. Up to $150 million raised in the next three years by Rotary International will be matched two-to-one by the Gates Foundation, which pledged a total of $450 million.

The one dark spot is Syria, where a fresh outbreak has paralyzed 17 children. The real culprit is the upheaval of war. Fortunately, there is an effective vaccine and a fair amount of experience in extinguishing such an outbreak, and with enough effort and immunization, it can be contained.

The moon shot may yet succeed.