“There are few ideas as powerful as the eradication of a human disease. But the euphoria around the world’s single success to date – that of smallpox – has led to ever more costly efforts to do the same for polio. World leaders need either to radically step up their commitment or have the courage to abandon the goal explicitly,” a Financial Times editorial states.

Eradication “needs a more strategic approach” if it is to succeed, the Financial Times writes. “That means the development and use of improved and differentiated polio vaccines, and their integration into wider childhood vaccination programs. It also means holding more closely to account both the managements of the eradication campaigns, and the political leaders in those countries most affected,” the editorial states (7/25).