The world is close to wiping out polio, and that in itself is close to miraculous. Of the thousands of diseases that afflict humans, only one, smallpox, has ever been eradicated before.

But despite tremendous progress, polio isn’t going down without a fight. Budget cuts, vaccination gaps, and difficulties reaching hard-to-access communities keep pushing the finish line further back. As cases creep upward, virus strains have re-emerged in countries that were long ago declared polio free — including Germany.

What makes that even more worrying? Germany is one of the latest countries to cut down its international aid budget, planning to trim €17 million from polio vaccination efforts alone in 2026. These financial shortfalls could end up accelerating polio’s spread, ushering in a future where resurgences become the norm.

We spoke with the World Health Organization (WHO) to find out exactly how Germany’s budget cuts could spell future trouble for all of global health.

But Before Discussing Eradicating Polio — What Exactly Is Polio?

Poliomyelitis, or polio, is a highly infectious virus that spreads mainly through contaminated water and food, mostly striking children under five. It usually settles in the gut but can eventually attack the central nervous system. Its symptoms are brutal, ranging from fever, headaches, and vomiting, to irreversible paralysis in about 1 of every 200 infections. In the worst cases it can even paralyze breathing muscles, causing suffocation. In fact, a horrific outbreak of polio in Copenhagen in 1952 prompted doctors to create the first ‘iron lung’ — a precursor to today’s hospital intensive care units (ICUs).

Before vaccines entered the picture in the 1960s, there were more than 600,000 cases recorded worldwide each year. There’s still no cure — but it can be prevented, which is partially why global health advocates set their sights on the goal of eradicating it entirely.

As Dr. Shahin Huseynov, Regional Advisor at the WHO Regional Office for Europe, explained, “The chance of success in eradicating polio is unique.” While the virus is incredibly contagious, unlike coronaviruses or monkeypox, it can’t infect animals — eliminating a loop of cross-contamination and putting victory with eradicating polio within reach.

Read the full article about threats to eradicating polio by Victoria MacKinnon at Global Citizen.