Polio vaccine A global effort to eradicate polio, led by the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and The Rotary Foundation, began in 1988 and has relied largely on the oral polio vaccine developed by Albert Sabin and Mikhail Chumakov (Sabin-Chumakov vaccine). Polio was eliminated in the Americas by 1994. The disease was officially eliminated in 36 Western Pacific countries, including China and Australia, in 2000. Europe was declared polio-free in 2002. Since January 2011, no cases of the disease have been reported in India, hence in February 2012, the country was taken off the WHO list of polio-endemic countries. In March 2014, India
Alvah Sabin Alvah Sabin Alvah Sabin (October 23, 1793 – January 22, 1885) was an American politician and clergyman. He served as a United States Representative from Vermont. Sabin was born in Georgia, Vermont to Benjamin Sabin and Polly McMaster Sabin, and was educated in the common schools. He was also a member of the Vermont militia and served during the War of 1812. Sabin also attended the University of Vermont in Burlington, which awarded him the honorary degree of master of arts in 1826. After the war, Sabin studied theology in Philadelphia and graduated from Columbian College (now George Washington University),