Gates Notes: Polio eradication took a step backwards, but we can recover lost ground.

Written by Bill Gates

I’ve written in previous letters (such as this one) about how close the world is to eradicating polio, and what a magical moment in history it will be when we do. Unfortunately, COVID, extreme weather, and war have made it much harder for vaccinators to do their jobs.

Between 2019 and 2021, coverage for all childhood vaccines, including the one for polio, dropped by the biggest margin in almost three decades, and not surprisingly, polio started coming back. In 2021, it paralyzed just six children in the entire world; this year, 30 children were paralyzed as of December 6. In Pakistan alone, 20 children have been paralyzed, up from just one last year.

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