Polio now only in Pakistan, Afghanistan

China's expertise may prove crucial to global effort to eradicate the virus

China's experience in eradicating polio and fast, effective stamping out of isolated clusters in recent years may be of value to the rest of the world as the global mission to end the infectious disease stands at a critical juncture, health experts said recently.

Polio is a potentially deadly disease that once used to paralyze tens of thousands of infants and children every year. But thanks to coordinated global vaccination efforts, the annual number of polio cases fell from over 300,000 about three decades ago to just 22 in 2022, according to Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun, former director-general of the World Health Organization.

However, two countries — Pakistan and Afghanistan — still experience cases of polio.