Eradicating polio: not this year
The effort to eradicated polio entirely by the end of 2012 will not be met.
Afghanistan and Nigeria, two of the three remaining endemic countries, have had more cases in the first nine months of this year than in 2010 altogether. Several other countries targeted by the plan have also seen more cases to date this year compared to this time in 2010. Additionally, polio had popped up in countries where it had previously been eradicated — notably China, which went polio-free for 11 years until this summer.
Sadly, politics and culture are almost certainly the main reasons polio still survives in these countries.