[2] In 1987 Rotary International began a campaign to raise U.S. $100 million by its 100th anniversary, for the purpose of dealing with global polio.

[4] Efforts were built upon those used to control wild poliovirus in the Americas in the early 1980s, and on lessons from smallpox eradication.

The initiative is spearheaded by the following organisations in the form of multistakeholder governance: Key tactics used by the GPEI include strengthening childhood immunisation through oral vaccines, conducting surveillance through investigation of acute flaccid paralysis cases among children under 15 years old (in order to determine areas where the virus is truly eradicated), and conducting "mop up" campaigns in areas where cases of polio have been identified.

This is part of a new initiative along with the European Commission, the European Investment Bank and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, meant to cover polio immunisations for around 370 million children yearly, provide measles vaccines, and build health systems to adapt to other health risks.

By 2000, both the regions of the Western Pacific and the Americas met the criteria to be certified free of polio transmissions.