Progress toward poliomyelitis eradication–People’s Republic of China, 1990-1994

In 1988, the Western Pacific Region of the World Health Organization (WHO) adopted a resolution to eradicate poliomyelitis from the region by the end of 1995. Since then, the People’s Republic of China (1993 population: 1.2 billion) has made substantial progress toward the eradication of polio by initiating supplementary vaccination activities with oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) in 1990. This report updates these efforts and describes the impact of China’s first National Immunization Days (NIDS)* during 1993-1994.