The provision of global public goods is a key ingredient to effective and sustainable development. In this context, recognising polio eradication as a global public good is important because, among others, it allows to extend the responsibility of completing the eradication efforts to the global community.   

It is hoped that the last cases of polio anywhere in the world caused by the wildtype polio virus will be seen this year, concluding a three-decade programme by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI). Having invested $20 billion USD in the effort, the world cannot afford the risks of not finishing the job. The ending of polio will have also major implications for:
       

• WHO, as a large flow of funding ceases and personnel are released; 

• countries that need to transition polio assets and use them to strengthen their national health systems and reinforce routine immunization;

• development partners as they strive to preserve global resilience to the prevent the possible return of polio while turning the focus of their attention to other global health priorities.    

The Global Health Centre (GHC) has invited Nellie Bristol to discuss the political and governance challenges in global health and what this means for polio eradication. The event will be moderated by Professor Stephen Matlin, Senior Fellow of the GHC.

Nellie Bristol is a Senior Fellow in the Global Health Policy Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington DC. She has explored the role that the United States government has played in polio eradication and how best to convert that investment into sustained global health gains. Her recent reports focused on US polio eradication support and transition of polio infrastructure to other health activities in India and Ethiopia. She also writes about US government relations with multilateral organizations, including the WHO and the World Bank Group. Among her recent reports are: Planning a Post-Polio Future (December 2016) and The U.S. Role in Global Polio Eradication (December 2012). Bristol came to CSIS following a long career as a health policy journalist. Bristol has written for top publications in the field, including The Lancet, Health Affairs, and Congressional Quarterly, covering HIV/AIDS policy, foreign aid and national security, noncommunicable diseases, and efforts to combat maternal mortality. She has a master’s degree in public health/global health from George Washington University. 

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