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May 8, 2013 The Microsoft founder and philanthropist is putting his money and time where his passion is: eradicating polio. Gates talks with NPR's Robert Siegel about why it makes sense to spend an estimated $5.5 billion to wipe out the disease once and for all.

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April 26, 2013 The World Health Organization released a six-year plan to wipe out the remaining pockets of polio and ensure the virus doesn't come back. With fewer than 20 polio cases so far this year, the world is closer than ever before to eradicating polio.

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April 2, 2013 Last year there were just over 200 cases of polio in remote parts of Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Now, a new $5.5 billion plan aims to eliminate the disease for good by 2018.

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February 12, 2013 The world is close to wiping out polio, as the number of new cases is at an all-time low. But recent violence against polio vaccinators threatens to reverse this progress. Recently, gunmen killed nine polio vaccinators in Nigeria, mirroring attacks in Pakistan in December.

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December 20, 2012 Pakistan temporarily halts the polio vaccination program after at least eight health workers are murdered while inoculating children.

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December 4, 2012 The appearance of an unusual type of poliovirus in Pakistan exposed gaps in vaccination campaigns. When a community isn't well immunized against polio, the weakened virus used in the oral vaccine can mutate and then infect unvaccinated people.

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November 14, 2012 Pakistan is close to eradicating one of the last two remaining types of polio left in the country, researchers announced on Monday. They haven't seen a case of this type in nearly seven months. Health workers are cautiously optimistic that their extra vaccination efforts are starting to pay off.

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November 8, 2012 Despite intensified efforts to vaccinate kids in Nigeria, polio cases are on the rise there. It's one of the last places in the world where polio is endemic. Most cases are popping up in a few communities that are now the prime targets for public health workers.

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October 24, 2012 We're right on the verge of wiping out polio globally. But to do that, children in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan must be inoculated with the heat-sensitive vaccine — not once, but multiple times. Time to call in the donkeys.

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October 18, 2012 Despite poverty and poor sanitation, the world's second-most populous country is eradicating polio, which has afflicted India for millennia. Health officials hope India's successful war plan against polio will serve as inspiration for its archrival, Pakistan, in its own fight against the disease.

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October 17, 2012 Polio is deadly, but so is what's required to stamp it out once and for all in Pakistan: facing down Islamist extremists. The virus thrives in Pakistan's lawless — and largely inaccessible — tribal regions. To stop polio's spread, health workers must be courageous, clever and relentless.

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October 17, 2012 Northern Nigeria is the only region in the world where the number of polio cases is on the rise. International groups have poured money and volunteers into the area to combat the disease. But vaccinators face daunting challenges — from security threats like terrorist bombings to a lack of basic resources like electricity.

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October 16, 2012 During the early 20th century, polio killed thousands of American children each summer and paralyzed many more. Now, as the world fights to eradicate the virus globally, we look back at the development of the polio vaccine and its successful deployment around the world.

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September 21, 2012 Pakistan is one of the last three countries to still have entrenched polio. To eradicate the virus, a group of "social mobilizers" travels to hard-hit slums to help overcome social and physical barriers to vaccination.

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May 24, 2012 Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan are the only three countries left where poliovirus remains endemic. But work to put the paralyzing virus on the ropes there is in danger of failing. The setbacks have spurred a renewed focus on defeating the disease.

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