Vaccine-preventable diseases are responsible for a significant proportion of the approximately 11 mil- lion deaths that occur annually among children under 5 years of age (Table 1). Yet, nowhere is the contrast between short-term disease-specific programmes and long-term developmental programmes more evident than in the area of childhood vaccination. Two contemporary vaccination strategies have received massive support from both the public and private sectors. The highest profile public health programme is the initiative to eradicate poliomyelitis. Supported by a 1988 resolution of the World Health Assembly (16) and by a major coalition of interna- tional agencies and private organizations, the drive to eradicate poliomyelitis is a direct descendant of previous eradication programmes. Based on a strategy.
