26 May 2012
The World Health Assembly (WHA) adopted a landmark Resolution declaring the completion of polio eradication a programmatic emergency for global public health. Member States highlighted the feasibility of eradication in the near-term, but expressed concern at an ongoing funding gap threatening success. The Resolution urges all remaining infected countries to declare polio to be a national public health emergency requiring the implementation of emergency action plans monitored at the highest levels; calls on all countries to fully apply vaccination recommendations for all travelers to/from polio-infected countries; and, urges all Member States to rapidly make available the financial requirements to achieve a polio-free world.