Dean Klag Signs Declaration to End Polio

The dean of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has joined an influential group of leading scientists and public health experts in signing the Scientific Declaration on Polio Eradication.

By signing the declaration, which was published April 11, Michael J. Klag, MD, MPH, dean of the Bloomberg School, publically endorsed the new Polio Eradication and Endgame Strategic Plan.

Led by Emory University and Aga Khan University, the Polio Eradication and Endgame Strategic Plan is an initiative which emphasizes that 2013 is a critical year for polio eradication. With so few cases being reported, there is a unique and urgent opportunity this year to create a polio-free world. The plan makes a scientific case for action and provides a long-term, comprehensive roadmap not only to achieve eradication but to sustain it as well.

Leaders of the initiative are counting on Dean Klag's endorsement—along with more than 400 other signers from 80 countries—to build momentum and bolster polio eradication efforts around the world.

Other signers from the Bloomberg School include Patti Gravitt, PhD, MS, associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology; Neal Halsey, MD, professor in the Department of International Health; Katherine O'Brien, MD, MPH, professor in the Department of International Health; and Mathuram Santosham, MD, MPH, professor in the Department of International Health.

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health media contact: Tim Parsons at 410-955-7619 or tmparson@jhsph.edu.