Language use in public health

Doublethink can mislead even experienced public-health practitioners. An example is the term "post-eradication immunization policy" for poliomyelitis.2 It describes preventive strategies, such as routine immunisation with inactivated polio vaccine in low-income and middle-income countries, which will have to be implemented once the eradication of poliomyelitis has been achieved.3 "Eradication", as defined by WHO, is the "achievement of a status whereby no further cases of a disease occur anywhere, and continued control measures are unnecessary".4 By definition, in a post-eradication scenario, there will be no further need for any strategy against either poliomyelitis or poliovirus. In short, there is no such thing as a "post-eradication immunization policy".