.,..targets 370m children with vaccination annually
From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
European Union (EU), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has announced a donation of one billion euros to support the final stretch of the fight against polio and other related communicable diseases in the world starting with Afghanistan and Pakistan where polio is still endemic.
The new financing partnership which was announced on Wednesday, in Brussels, is expected to be used to address critical global health opportunities: eradicating polio and ensuring that innovations in health are more accessible to the people who need them most.
The expected €1.1 billion financing package will also provide new funding window to eradicate a human disease for only the second time in history, and help solve the health and development challenges faced by the world’s most vulnerable people, who otherwise do not get fair access to healthcare services and innovations.
The funds will also cover polio vaccinations for nearly 370 million children annually; deliver vital health services to children alongside polio campaigns, including measles vaccines and other routine immunizations; and strengthen health systems to better prepare and respond to emerging health threats, as the polio program has done against COVID-19, Ebola, and other diseases.
It was also announced that World Health Organization and the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), would serve as the implementing partners for the polio funding, hence they are expected to deploy the resources to eradicate polio, support the distribution of other childhood immunizations and strengthen health systems so they are better able to respond to emerging health threats.
President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in a statement said, “We are about to wipe polio off the face of the Earth. The European Commission, European Investment Bank (EIB), and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are partnering to get through the final stretch.
“With one billion euros supported by our European investment strategy Global Gateway, we will invest in stronger health systems globally and local vaccine and medicines production, manufacturing and administration, where it is most needed. Global cooperation has helped us put an end to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now it will help us get rid of polio once and for all.”
Werner Hoyer, President of EIB, said the partnership marks a significant increase in funding for global health and human development under the European Commission’s European Fund for Sustainable Development plus (EFSD+), and it’s expected to include a match of new complementary funding for global health by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, maximizing the impact of every Euro committed by the EU and the European Investment Bank.
“Today we are united to write the final chapter in the history of polio. The EIB is playing its part in a unique partnership with philanthropy and health partners, by providing EUR 500 million for investment in support of the global polio eradication programme.
“This initiative will be a milestone in scaling up immunization and strengthening healthcare, ensuring that every child, regardless of their circumstances, can be protected against polio.”
Mr. Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, noted that wild polio virus remains endemic in just two countries, namely, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and 80 per cent of variant polio virus cases are found in just four subnational regions.
Melinda French Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, advocated that medicines and other life-saving innovations should reach the people who need them most, making communities everywhere healthier. “We know that when a community is healthy, economies grow.”
WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, said that reaching un- or under-vaccinated children in the most remote and hardest-to-reach areas is essential for finishing the job of polio eradication.
He said: “These new funds will not only help to drive us towards a polio-free world, but will also help to build more sustainable and resilient health systems to protect the same children and communities who are at risk of polio against the many other health threats they face.”
UNICEF Executive Director, Catherine Russell, said that polio eradication is within reach, but the progress is fragile, insisting that all stakeholders must remain laser focused.
She said: “This new funding will help ensure that all children get vaccinated to eradicate polio, while strengthening community-based health systems. No child should suffer from an easily preventable disease.”
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