More Funds, Time Required To Wipe Out Polio, GPEI Says

Reuters (10/17, Satija) reports, “The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) needs more funds and has pushed back by three years its target to officially wipe out all forms of the disease, officials said on Thursday.” The group “now hopes to declare an end to both the wild virus and the vaccine-derived variant by 2027 and 2029, respectively, compared with a previous deadline of 2026 for both forms.” GPEI Polio Oversight Board Chair Chris Elias “said the initiative still hoped to interrupt transmission of the wild form of polio next year, but would then need to wait two years to check there were no new cases before officially declaring the disease wiped out.”