WHO, UNICEF Laud $1.2bn Polio Eradication Fund

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have commended the 1.2 billion dollars funding initiative to eradicate polio disease in Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
UNICEF Executive Director, Anthony Lake, and WHO Director-General, Margaret Chan, gave the commendations as global health leaders reaffirmed their commitment to fund the eradication of polio in the countries.
The major pledges included 75 million dollars from Canada, 61.4 million dollars from the European Commission, 55 million dollars from Japan, and 30 million dollars from Sheikh Mohamed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
Other  pledges were 30 million dollars from the Dalio Foundation, 25 million dollars from Bloomberg Philanthropies, 15 million dollars from an anonymous donor, and 13.4 million dollars from Australia.
There were also 11.2 million dollars from Germany, five million dollars each from EasyJet and Italy while the Republic of Korea pledged four million dollars.
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), a public-private partnership dedicated to ending the disease, announced the pledges at the Rotary Convention in Atlanta. Lake said, “today’s funding commitments will enable the programme to continue to improve performance and overcome challenges to reach every child, including vaccinating children in conflict areas.
“We are truly on the verge of eradicating polio from the planet, but only if we work relentlessly to reach the children we have not yet reached.
“We cannot fail to make this last effort.
“If we do not now make history, we will be judged harshly by history’’.
The UNICEF chief commended efforts towards ending the disease, saying polio has been eliminated from some of the most remote and challenging areas in the world.
“For example, India, once considered the most difficult place in the world to stop the disease, hasn’t reported a case in more than six years.
in the world,’’ Chan said.
than 9.5 billion dollars to polio eradication.