Although the number of polypoli cases worldwide is declining, the disease has not been completely eradicated. The EU, together with the Gates Foundation, has now provided more than one billion euros for the fight against polio.
The European Union has launched a new initiative to eradicate polio. The European Commission announced that a financing package worth more than one billion euros was put together with the European Investment Bank and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
“We are on the verge of eradicating polio from the earth. The European Commission, the EIB and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have joined forces to achieve the final stage,” said Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Almost 370 million children are expected to be vaccinated against polio every year.
Billions of dollars to curb polio
Globally, the funds will be invested in the local production, manufacturing and management of vaccines and medicines as well as in strengthening health systems. The European Investment Bank says it is providing 500 million euros to support the global polio eradication program.
“The virus that once paralyzed 7,000 children every week has paralyzed just nine people this year. But while polio has almost disappeared, there are still 280 children affected by a different variant of polio,” said Microsoft founder Bill Gates . “We make health innovations accessible to everyone, especially in the poorest countries.”
The Gates Foundation is the largest private charitable foundation in the world. It is one of the most important donors in the area of global health care and development cooperation.
Polio cases already falling sharply
The number of polio cases has fallen by 99 percent since the 1990s, largely thanks to global mass vaccination campaigns. However, completely eradicating the disease has proven difficult. The wild form of polio is only endemic in Afghanistan and Pakistan, while the vaccine-transmitted form is more widespread.
Vaccine polio can occur when children are vaccinated with a vaccine that contains a weakened version of the live virus. They are protected, but the weakened virus shed by the vaccinated children can spread, mutate and eventually become harmful in the unvaccinated population.