In 1988 the World Health Assembly launched the Polio Eradication Initiative, setting the worldwide goal for the eradication of polio for 2013. That deadline for has come and gone, and Health officials say that they are targeting the revocation of the disease by the year 2018.
A commentary that was published in the Lancet Infectious Diseases journal contains details of how there is an apparent discrepancy between the structured world of medicine and the way that pathogens are constantly evolving to challenge medical discoveries, making the eradication of polio one of the biggest challenges being faced by the medical community. Currently, immunization efforts have been the center of some negative publicity as health workers in some parts of the world are being attacked due to beliefs that the polio vaccine is somehow part of a destructive Western scheme.
However, viruses do not rely on how humans perceive the world, according to Prof. Del Casino, professor of Geography and Development at the University of Arizona, "their existence is based on human bodies and how to move from one to the next. " the research recommend that medical sign tests employ a more cautious approach in trying to find sure, and suggesting that they look at the bigger picture instead of focusing on global eradication efforts. In addition, one of Prof. Dell Casino's co-authors said that, "climate and environmental changes alter the habitats of pathogens and vectors in ways we're still trying to understand," explaining how geography must also be taken into consideration when studying the spread of diseases since they can affect the maps that are currently being used to identify disease distribution.
Prof. Del Casino also said that, "If you put all your energy into eradication, you miss opportunities for mitigation and management. We hope to suggest that we can use polio as an entry point into a larger conversation about the spread of viruses more generally." He added that in contrast to the smallpox disease that has already been eradicated, the poliomyelitis disease is debilitating since it can affect the patient's nervous system and cause permanent paralysis and that it will take a similar coordinated effort globally to put a stop to polio. According to statistics, the number of patients that are being reported as new cases for polio have dropped significantly from 716 in 2011 to just 223 last year. However, there are more cases that are developing each day.
