MADRID, 16 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has committed to investing 1.2 billion dollars (euros) to support efforts to eradicate all forms of polio globally.
The organization has made the announcement from Berlin, where the World Health Summit is held this Sunday and before the meeting of the Global Initiative for the Eradication of Polio (IGEP) is held next Tuesday.
These funds will be used to implement the IGEP Strategy 2022-2026, which seeks to eradicate outbreaks of the disease in the two countries where it is still endemic, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and prevent outbreaks of virus variants. The Bill Gates Foundation has already contributed more than 5,000 million in total to the IGEP.
“The eradication of polio is possible, but it is still a threat. By collaborating, the world can put an end to this disease,” said Bill Gates. “I want to thank Germany for co-hosting this week’s events and for their continued support of polio eradication. I call on other donors to support the eradication strategy so that no one is paralyzed by polio again.” the.
The IGEP meeting is held next Tuesday and it is expected that there will be more funding commitments from donors and leaders from various countries to achieve the 4.8 billion dollars budgeted in the agency’s 2022-2026 Strategy.
The plan foresees vaccinating 370 million children a year and providing other basic health services, as well as measures to support local authorities, respond to possible outbreaks or help develop the next generation of polio vaccines.
IGEP is estimated to have saved more than 20 million children from this paralyzing disease and death. This year and for the first time in a long time, cases have been registered in Africa and there are fears for children who have not received the vaccine due to the coronavirus pandemic.
