Geneva : New strategy may be last shot to get rid of polio

Via AP, polio is still a threat, excerpt from a long and informative report :

" GENEVA : For years, the world has been on the brink of wiping out polio, the deadly disease that can paralyze and kill children.

At the World Health Organization's annual meeting of health ministers this week, experts are unveiling what they describe as a new strategy to get rid of the feared disease.

But others say there is little new and that if this effort fails, there are serious questions about whether to continue the campaign should be raised.

Some experts say eradicating polio is impossible and should be abandoned. With a new target of stopping the virus by the end of 2012, this may be WHO and partners' best chance to get rid of polio before donors run out of money and patience.

Since WHO, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UNICEF and Rotary International set out to eradicate polio in 1988, they have come tantalizingly close. By 2003, cases had dropped by more than 99 percent. But progress has stalled since and several deadlines have been missed."