Great Strides Seen in World Fight on Polio
The global campaign against polio scored gains against the crippling disease in virtually all regions of the world in 1993, with less than half the number of cases than were registered in 1992.
The Geneva-based World Health Organization said a large outbreak of poliomyelitis in Pakistan in 1993 ran counter to the “almost universal decline” in the disease. Pakistan recorded 1,803 cases, up from 1,046 in 1992.
WHO is campaigning to eliminate the disease through a vaccination program by the year 2000.
A record 141 countries registered zero new cases during 1993, a WHO statement said. For the year, 7,898 cases were registered in 46 countries. In 1992, the total was 15,911 in 58 countries.
The last time a case of paralytic polio was registered in the Western Hemisphere was Aug. 25, 1991, in Peru, said Dr. Nicholas Ward, head of WHO’s anti-polio program.
