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In September, 1985, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) tergeted poliomyelitis to be eradicated from the Americas by 1990 (1). The strategy for poliomyelitis eradication included routine vaccination with oral poliomyelitis vaccine (OPV), complemented by national immunization days (NIDs) with OPV, aimed at rapidly interrupting chains of transmission. The NIDs, together with surveillance for detection of cases of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) with laboratory investigation for the presence of wild poliovirus in their stools proved to be two key components of eradication. The third key component of the strategy was the implementation of special "mopup" operations of house OPV vaccination in those few municipalities were poliomyelitis was still prevalent (2). In September 1994 an International Commission for the Certification of Poliomyelitis in the Americas certified that wild poliovirus transmission had been interrupted in the Western Hemisphere (3). By October 1996, over five years have elapsed since the last confirmed case of paralytic poliomyelitis due to wild polio virus was detected 23 August 1991, in Peru. This fact is of historical significance in the annals of public health.

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Vol. 7 Núm.4. Octubre-Diciembre 1996 Pags. 237-239 Rev Biomed 1996; 7(4)