Fox News: Polio, Eliminated: As former CDC Directors we are optimistic that the complete eradication of the disease is close
Thomas Frieden, Jeffrey P. Koplan, and David Satcher, all former directors of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

“…When it comes to polio, each of us is convinced that the ultimate achievement — complete eradication of this terrible disease — is unquestionably close. Each of us is a personal witness to years of relentless work, driven by strong science, sturdy and diverse partnerships, dedicated and sometimes dangerous work on the front lines, and sheer determination, that has brought us to the brink of eradicating a disease once so feared and widespread it was one of the world’s leading threats to people’s health. … [A]n indisputable reason for the remarkable inroads against polio is the critical role Rotary International has played from the start, from initially proposing the goal to walking stride for stride with us in public health to defeat polio. … Thanks to widespread vaccination campaigns in more than a hundred countries, a disease that once paralyzed 1,000 children each day is now almost history. Anyone who has seen this crippling disease, as we have, feels the urgency to finish the job — to eliminate polio’s last, tenuous grip on our world … For while we’re tantalizingly close to eliminating polio worldwide, we’re not there yet…” (6/11).

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Opinion: We can achieve world without polio
Ted Turner, founder of CNN and founder and chair of the United Nations Foundation

“…Leadership from the United States government has been essential to the fight against polio, as well as to many global health issues. To keep children around the world — and in the U.S. — safe and healthy, this leadership must continue. We have the tools and ability to stop polio; now we need to maintain the commitment to reach the finish line. … In addition to the millions of lives that have and will be saved, polio eradication will save money for overstretched health systems. … It will also allow countries and the global community to leverage the infrastructure that has been built for polio eradication to strengthen a wide variety of other health efforts around the world. … We have it in our power to ensure that future generations will live in a polio-free world. Working together, I know we can finish the job on polio. We can and must ensure that polio follows smallpox as the second human disease in history to be eradicated from our planet” (6/9).