Vaccination

Communication support for the Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI)

Image de l'UNICEF: A girl toddler displays her inked finger, which has been marked to indicate that she has been immunized against polio during the UNICEF-supported emergency 'mop-up' campaign, in Cipanengah Village.

Indonesia: A girl toddler displays her inked finger, which has been marked to indicate that she has been immunized against polio during the UNICEF-supported emergency 'mop-up' campaign, in Cipanengah Village.

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative is the largest public health initiative ever. Spearheaded by the World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary International, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and UNICEF, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), is a unique collaboration of governments, international organizations, the private sector, civil society and over 20 million volunteers.

Since the GPEI was launched in 1988 during the World Health Assembly, the number of global polio cases has decreased by 99%, from over 350,000 in 1988 to fewer than 1,307 in 2007. As the GPEI enters 2008, wild poliovirus circulation has become increasingly limited to a small number of reservoirs in areas of the four endemic countries (Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and Pakistan), and a few countries that were once polio-free, but where the virus has been reintroduced in the past years.

UNICEF has key responsibilities in the initiative for vaccine supply, communication and social mobilization and technical guidance on country level operations. This site offers information on the current status of polio eradication, updates on global and country level activities and links to relevant documents and other electronic resources.