Commending efforts to eradicate the wild poliovirus.

Commending efforts to eradicate the wild poliovirus.

Whereas nearly 60,000 children in the United States were reported to have polio in 1952 alone, with more than 20,000 cases of paralysis;

Whereas thanks to vaccination, polio was eliminated from the United States in 1979;

Whereas the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI)—a unique public-private partnership that includes the Federal Government, Rotary International, the Gates Foundation, and GAVI—was established in 1988 with a goal of eradicating polio globally, at a time when there were more than 350,000 cases of polio recorded annually;

Whereas Rotary International, a global association founded in Illinois, has contributed more than $2,800,000,000 and volunteered countless hours in the global fight against polio since 1979;

Whereas, since the goal of global polio eradication was set in 1988, polio incidence has been reduced by more than 99.9 percent through the use of the inactivated polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk and the oral polio vaccine developed by Albert Sabin;

Whereas the Americas were the first region to be certified free from wild poliovirus in 1994, with the last case of wild poliovirus in the Americas confirmed in Peru in 1991;

Whereas, since 1994, 4 other regions of the world have been certified free from wild poliovirus and 2 of the 3 strains of wild poliovirus have been certified eradicated worldwide;

Whereas, as of September 2024, only Afghanistan and Pakistan have been unable to fully stop transmission of wild poliovirus, a decrease from more than 125 countries in 1988;

Whereas the GPEI reaches the world’s most vulnerable children, including those who have been displaced, living in areas of insecurity or conflict, where cases of variant poliovirus remain of concern;

Whereas today, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 20,000,000 people are walking who have been spared from paralysis and 1,500,000 deaths have been averted worldwide thanks to the efforts of the GPEI;

Whereas, in addition to combating polio, the global workforce and infrastructure of the GPEI has frequently served as first responders for natural disasters and other public health crises, including outbreaks of Ebola and the COVID–19 pandemic;

Whereas progress toward global polio eradication is a testament to what can be achieved through sustained global commitment and collaboration;

Whereas when polio is eradicated, it will be only the second human disease in history to make such an achievement, the first being smallpox;

Whereas the GPEI effectively reaches children to protect them from polio even in fragile and conflict-affected countries including most recently in Palestine;

Whereas countries long considered polio-free, including the United States, which confirmed a case of polio in 2022 in the State of New York, are vulnerable to outbreaks of polio until poliovirus transmission is stopped globally; and

Whereas as long as poliovirus circulates anywhere, it remains a threat to children everywhere: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives—

(1) commends the work that has kept the Americas free from wild poliovirus;

(2) supports the goals and ideals of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative;

(3) encourages and supports the international community of governments and nongovernmental organizations in remaining committed to the eradication of polio; and

(4) encourages the Federal Government to continue committing funding to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.