Many people can still remember when polio was a truly frightening word.  In the early 1900s, polio epidemics killed or crippled thousands of people, mostly young children. In 1952 and 1962, vaccines were developed that have reduced the incidence of polio worldwide.  The United States has been considered polio free since 1994.

It is now possible to consider the full eradication of polio in our lifetime.  This would be the second disease to have been eradicated, with smallpox officially eradicated in 1979.  The work to end polio infection has been a massive effort, with 2 billion children having been immunized worldwide.  The benefit has been enormous, with children no longer suffering from paralysis or other effects of polio. 

Now is the time to fully stop polio in the few remaining countries where it exists.  I have led an effort in the Senate to ensure that funding is made available to continue immunization and surveillance campaigns.  This work is essential to ending the threat of polio worldwide, and ensuring that it cannot be reintroduced in the United States.

Sincerely,

Barbara Boxer
United States Senator