The term polio eradication campaign in its broadest sense signifies a vaccination strategy to end poliomyelitis. More narrowly defined, the term polio eradication campaign denotes a global alliance of health agencies spearheaded by national governments, the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Rotary International, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. International efforts to eradicate polio began in 1988, when the World Health Assembly (WHA, the governing body of WHO) launched the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) and resolved to eradicate polio globally by 2000, based on the exclusive use of the oral polio vaccine (OPV).

Since 1988, the incidence of polio has been reduced by more than 99 percent worldwide, from ...