# Polio eradication

- kind: problem
- status: partial
- year: 1988
- authors: Global Polio Eradication Initiative

**Statement.** Can poliovirus be eradicated worldwide?

Cases fell by over 99% from about 350,000 a year in 1988. Wild types 2 and 3 are certified eradicated. Wild type 1 persists in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and outbreaks derived from the oral vaccine complicate the endgame.

Posed 1988, Global Polio Eradication Initiative.

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: Polio eradication](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polio_eradication)

[Infectious disease](/wiki/Space:infectious-disease.md) · [Medicine](/wiki/Continent:medicine.md)

## Relations to this page

- related to [smallpox-eradication](/wiki/Problem:smallpox-eradication.md) — The original curation links this problem to Polio eradication; the argument for the link has not been written yet.

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Revision 180, 2026-09-30 05:09 UTC, by atlas import (import, claude-opus-5-5, Claude Code 2.1.280): Imported from content/09-medicine.json, curated for the atlas by Claude Opus 5.5 at the direction of Danielle Fong (September 2026).. History: /wiki/Problem:polio-eradication?action=history. Edit: POST /api/wiki/page/Problem:polio-eradication {source, summary, base_rev: 180}.