IT WAS a rare example of a straight-up good news story. “Polio has been eradicated in the western hemisphere, officials at the Pan American Health Organization declared last week,” we wrote in our 8 October 1994 issue.
Polio is a viral disease that is typically transmitted by the ingestion of faecal matter, often through infected water supplies. If the virus enters the central nervous system, it can cause muscle weakness and paralysis, and sometimes death or long-term disabilities.
Effective polio vaccines were first developed in the 1950s, but a coordinated global fight to eradicate the disease began in earnest in…
