18 May 2026

In 2014, India achieved what many had deemed impossible: it eliminated wild poliovirus. Not long before, it was home to nearly half the world’s unvaccinated children. Yet within a few years, the country mobilised its public-health machinery—door-to-door immunisation, relentless surveillance, rapid outbreak response, and logistics—on a scale and with a level of precision that left no stone unturned. The result was not fleeting but lasting: India became polio-free and has remained so ever since.