Statement of support from Professor David M. Salisbury

From the Chair of the European Regional Certification Commission for Poliomyelitis Eradication

Since the last EIW we have seen a major outbreak of polio in the European Region that caused paralysis of hundreds of individuals ranging from young children to adults. Although there was clearly some spread to other countries in our Region, prompt and coordinated actions by potentially affected countries rapidly brought the outbreak to an end. Since then, there has been excellent joint working between countries with vaccination campaigns being coordinated to get the maximum impact to ensure that any possibility of further outbreaks is reduced to the absolute minimum. This example of countries working together is exactly the spirit that EIW is creating where the sum of the outcome is far greater than each of the individual national parts. The European Region countries have shown that they can mobilise and respond rapidly and effectively - together - and that is part of the purpose of EIW.