摘要：Vaccination prevents an estimated 650,000 casesof paralytic polio in each annual global birthcohort.1In October 2000, the World HealthOrganization (WHO) declared the Western Pacificregion, including Australia to be polio-free.2Thismarks an important achievement for childhoodhealth and is a true vaccination 'success story.'Since the creation of the Global Polio EradicationInitiative by the World Health Assembly in 1988,the estimated number of polio cases has fallenfrom 350,000 to less than 3,500, a decrease ofmore than 99 per cent
