Today marks one year since we have had a case of the wild poliovirus anywhere in Africa, the last having been reported from Somalia with a date of onset of 11th August 2014.
What an extraordinary achievement and what a powerful symbol of the progress that has been made on the African continent over the past generation.
What got us to this point was not just a vaccine, it was the tireless work of hundreds of thousands of volunteers, traditional and religious leaders at community level, combined with the commitment and determination of national and local governments. On the global level it has involved a remarkable partnership between WHO, Rotary International, the Centres for Disease Control, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and UNICEF, backed by the generous contributions of many public and private donors.
A girl in Somalia displays her ink-marked finger, demonstrating that she has been vaccinated against…
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