Dr Doctor (Doctor) Harrie van der Avoort of RIVM, speaker at the conference, rightly stated that: ‘The World Health Organization is focusing on the worldwide eradication of the virus, which is extremely important, yet not the end of things for polio patients. In many cases, severe symptoms occur twenty to forty years after contamination. The development of an adequate treatment for this group of people should be high on the agenda.’

In 2002, the World Health Organization declared Europe polio-free. The last epidemic in the Netherlands was over twenty years ago; a great gain of national and international healthcare. It is, however, often overlooked that half of the patients are confronted every single day with the fact that they once suffered from polio. ‘People who contracted polio during the last epidemic in the Netherlands struggle with the post-polio syndrome today, dealing with complaints such as paralysis symptoms, pain and extreme fatigue. During the international post-polio conference, we ask attention for the proper treatment of twenty million post-polio patients worldwide,’ according to Dr Harrie van der Avoort.