When Ray Hilfiker was 10 years old, he was diagnosed with polio. Now 73 and living in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, he shared his story with sixth graders at a local middle school. Even at a young age, he said he was fearful of passing the illness on to his relatives, so he opted to write […]

The World Health Organization (WHO) has passed guidelines stating that all trivalent polio vaccines in India be immediately removed from the market so that it can be be replaced with the bivalent version of the vaccine. However, the new drugs won’t be available until April 25, which has some doctors and other members of the […]

In the last year-and-a-half, Nigeria hasn’t seen a single child become paralyzed due to the wild poliovirus. The WHO officially removed the African nation from its polio endemic list late last year, but Nigerian leaders are quick to say that, in order to maintain their status, the country will need to continue to be vigilant […]

During a panel discussion at an aid and development conference held earlier this week in Dubai, officials discussed the latest collaboration between the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). One of the panelists, Hassan Al Damluji, head of Middle East relations for the foundation, said that despite the increase in […]

In Peshawar, a provincial capital in Pakistan, parents of 5,740 children have refused to allow workers to immunize their children against polio. While this may sound alarming, their actions are not anything new. In the Pakistani city of Bannu, officials report that 2,316 children did not receive the oral vaccine, and in Lakki Marwat, also […]

In as little as a month, Ukraine could become the only country in the world without protection from polio due to delays in licensing a new vaccine. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that healthcare workers in the European country will be unable to continue administering an older version of the vaccine beginning next month […]

During a presentation this week at a chapter event for the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution in Waterford, California, Emily Barberi recognized the two women who helped cure her polio as a child. Barberi, who is now 73 years old and serves as a chairwoman for the organization, honored Sister Elizabeth […]

Earlier this week, a family in Dera Ghazi Khan, Pakistan, set their dog on a healthcare worker who visited their home to administer the oral polio vaccine to their child. According to reports, Shehzad Baig and his family refused to allow their child to be immunized by Nasreen Kausar. When Kausar warned the family that […]

A UNICEF representative has confirmed that the Japanese government has approved a nearly $3 million grant for a polio eradication program in Pakistan, one of two countries with confirmed polio cases– the other being Afghanistan. During a press conference earlier this week, UNICEF representative Angela Kearney stated that the grant will enable Pakistan’s government to […]

Despite officially being polio free since 2014, Indonesia is doing another large push to vaccinate the country’s children during National Polio Immunization Week, which began earlier this week. During a news conference in Jakarta, Indonesian Health Minister Nila Moeloek said the country plans to immunize 23.7 million children, starting from newborn to 5 years of […]