Famed photographer Sebastião Salgado documents the program's endeavor to reach the last hideouts of polio in our Photo Essay from his book THE END OF POLIO.

	The End Polio Now Campaign The great reduction in polio cases — 99 percent — is the result of the largest public health initiative in history. The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) provides the oral polio vaccine. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the WHO offer technical expertise. With 1.2 million members in 159 countries, Rotary International has raised approximately $500 million for polio eradication and provided tens of thousands of volunteers in the field. As shown in our photo essays, ridding the world of polio required travel to remote areas, tracking of nomadic groups and refugees to ensure all children receive the crucial "two drops" of oral vaccine. In strife-torn Somalia, health workers had to be accompanied by armed guards. And, it is essential that the vaccine be kept cold to remain effective. Challenges to eradication remain, in Northern Nigeria, local leaders recently blocked emergency efforts to vaccinate the population against polio after an October 2003 outbreak. Find out more and how to help: The End Of Polio A World Without Polio UNICEF: A World Without Polio United Nations: End Polio Now Rotary International: Polio Plus Centers for Disease Control STOP (Stop Transmission of Polio) Teams Biography: Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado is one of the most respected photojournalists working today. Educated as an economist, Mr. Salgado, 57, began his photography career in 1973. His first book, OTHER AMERICAS, about the poor in Latin America, was published in 1986. This was followed by SAHEL: MAN IN DISTRESS (also published in 1986), the result of a 15 month long collaboration with Medecins San Frontières covering the drought in northern Africa. From 1986 to 1992 he documented manual labor world-wide. From 1993 to 1999, he turned his attention to the global phenomenon of mass displacement of people, resulting in the internationally acclaimed books MIGRATIONS and THE CHILDREN published in 2000. Appointed a UNICEF Special Representative in 2001, he has dedicated himself to chronicling the lives of the world's dispossessed, a work that has filled ten books and many exhibitions and for which he has won numerous awards in Europe and in the Americas. View images from Salgado's book THE CHILDREN All photos are used with the kind permission of the photographer and the publisher and distributor of THE END OF POLIO, PixelPress, and Bulfinch Press.