This was presented at the June 2004 UNICEF meeting dedicated to examining communication in the context of the final push to eradicate polio. The presentation addresses the trends and status of the global polio eradication programme, providing an overall epidemiological framework for the communication strategies presented on a country-by country-basis later in the meeting. Facts presented include: a decrease in the number of polio cases worldwide from 350,000 cases in 1988 to 748 cases in 2003, and from 125 endemic countries to 6. In 2003, a trend reversal was noted, as both Nigeria and Western Uttar Pradesh (India) exported the virus to other countries/states, some of which had previously been polio-free. Currently (January to April 2004), transmission levels in Asia have been very low - India and Pakistan are at all-time low numbers - while transmission in Nigeria is extremely high, with February 2004 being the highest month since acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) surveillance began. Detailed data is provided for Nigeria, Niger, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Egypt, the six remaining polio endemic countries. Actions to be taken in an effort to meet the December 31 2004 eradication deadline include a May 2004 international advocacy (Organization of the Islamic Conference, or OIC, and African Union, or AU) meeting of health ministers and 22-country synchronised NIDs planned in Sub-Saharan Africa. Post-eradication steps to be taken in 2006-2008 are also discussed.

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