Tremendous achievements have been made in the global fight against polio since 1988 when the World Health Assembly resolved to eradicate the disease. When the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) began in 1988, polio used to paralyze more than 350,000 children worldwide annually. Today, the global incidence of polio is down by more than 99%.
This success was made possible through a global investment of USD 11 billion which helped vaccinate more than 2.5 billion children in 200 countries. This means that, thanks to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, more than ten million children are walking today, who would otherwise be paralyzed by polio.