Global leaders to fund polio eradication with $2.6b

Amarachi Okeh

Global leaders have pledged to provide funding to the tune of $2.6 billion for the eradication of polio all over the world.

The leaders which consist of a combination of countries and charity organisations pledged funds towards the eradication of polio through the Global Polio Eradication Initiative’s 2022-2026 Strategy during a pledging moment co-hosted by Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) at the ongoing World Health Summit organised in conjunction with the World Health Organisation.

The funding will support global efforts to overcome the final hurdles to polio eradication, vaccinate 370 million children annually over the next five years and continue to strengthen disease surveillance across 50 countries.

Wild poliovirus is endemic in just two countries – Pakistan and Afghanistan. However, after just six cases were recorded in 2021, 29 cases have been recorded so far this year, including a small number of new detections in southeast Africa linked to a strain originating in Pakistan. Additionally, outbreaks of cVDPV, variants of the poliovirus that can emerge in places where not enough people have been immunised, continue to spread across parts of Africa, Asia, and Europe, with new outbreaks detected in the United States, Israel and the United Kingdom in recent months, the WHO said.

In 2020, Nigeria was certified polio-free after meeting all the criteria for certification, which included three years of non-detection of any wild poliovirus case in the country.

Speaking, Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany, Svenja Schulze, however, said no place is safe until polio has been eradicated everywhere.

“As long as the virus still exists somewhere in the world, it can spread – including in our own country. We now have a realistic chance to eradicate polio completely, and we want to jointly seize that chance.

“Germany will remain a strong and committed partner in the global fight against polio,” he said while pledging the sum of EUR 72 million to GPEI.

On his part, the WHO Director General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom remarked that the new detections of polio this year in previously polio-free countries are a stark reminder that if nations do not deliver on the goal of ending polio everywhere, it may resurge globally.

 He thanked the donor while commenting that further work needs to be done to fully fund the 2022-2026 strategy

“We must remember the significant challenges we have overcome to get this far against polio, stay the course and finish the job once and for all,” he reiterated.

In addition to the existing commitments, the WHO revealed the sum each organisation/country pledged at the ongoing summit: Australia pledged AU$ 43.55 million; France pledged EUR 50 million; Germany pledged EUR 72 million; Japan pledged US$ 11 million; the Republic of Korea pledged KRW 4.5 billion; Luxembourg pledged EUR 1.7 million; Malta pledged EUR 30 000; Monaco pledged EUR 450 000; Spain pledged EUR 100 000; Turkey pledged US$ 20 000; United States pledged US$ 114 million; Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation pledged US$S 1.2 billion; Bloomberg Philanthropies pledged US$ 50 million; Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America pledged US$ 1.8 million; Latter-day Saint Charities pledged US$ 400 000; Rotary International pledged US$ 150 million and UNICEF pledged US$ 5 million.

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