"A global initiative to rid the world of polio launched an emergency action plan on Thursday because gaps in funding and vaccination coverage threaten to derail a final push towards stamping out the paralyzing disease," AlertNet reports (Rowling, 5/24). "Despite the dramatic drop in polio cases in the last year, the threat of continued transmission due to funding and immunization gaps has driven the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) to launch an Emergency Action Plan," a GPEI press release states. "'Polio eradication is at a tipping point between success and failure,' said Dr. Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organization," the press release states. "We are in emergency mode to tip it towards success -- working faster and better, focusing on the areas where children are most vulnerable," she added, according to the release (5/24).