POLIO: Seeking support for all the children

This year is the 50th anniversary of routine immunization campaigns that have reduced child mortality by 80% and saved over a billion lives. But 1.5 million people still die annually of vaccine preventable diseases, and the pandemic disrupted the process of routine immunizations — 67 million children around the world missed their routine vaccines as a result, putting their health and lives at risk.

Polio vaccines in particular are of critical importance. Polio infections can lead to paralysis and, in 5-10% of cases, death. As a polio survivor myself, who still remembers my classmates who were paralyzed before the development of the vaccine, I believe that every child deserves to be protected. 

Success in eradicating polio forever from our world is very close. In 1988, there were 350,000 cases in 125 countries; only 12 cases of wild poliovirus were confirmed in 2023. 

Access to vaccines in low-resource countries will prevent the spread of diseases like polio to the United States. As long as one person remains infected, all unvaccinated individuals are at risk of contracting polio. But we can eradicate this disease, as long as the resources and vaccines to immunize children in its last holdouts are made available. 

You can help by advocating for lifesaving vaccines by contacting Senators Risch and Crapo and Representative Fulcher to ask for full funding of the global childhood immunization programs for the 2025 budget. The proposed budget will cover the development of new vaccines and providing vaccines to low-resource countries and help us finally create a polio-free world.  

LORNA SCHUMANN

Post Falls