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In 1988, polio paralyzed 350,000 people every single year. Most were children under five. The virus invaded their nervous systems. It locked up their limbs. Sometimes it paralyzed the specific muscles they needed to breathe.

Then humanity decided to push back.

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative launched one of the largest coordinated public health campaigns in human history. Health workers carried cold vaccines to the most remote corners of the globe. They systematically immunized millions of children.

It worked. Today, wild poliovirus cases are down by more than 99%.

The disease is now endemic in exactly two countries: Afghanistan and Pakistan. We have never been closer to wiping a devastating illness off the board entirely. But as long as it circulates anywhere, international travel means under-vaccinated communities remain at risk. The job is almost done. We just have to finish it.