Saudi Arabia has pledged $500 million to support the eradication of polio in Pakistan and Afghanistan, according to an announcement by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday.
This funding, initially promised in April 2024, will be allocated towards eliminating wild polio in the two endemic countries and controlling outbreaks of vaccine-derived polio.
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Key Points of the Initiative:
- The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) now aims to eliminate wild polio by 2027 and vaccine-derived polio by 2029, revising its original target of 2026.
- 99 cases of wild polio were reported in Pakistan and Afghanistan last year, per WHO data.
- The United States had been a major donor to the program, funding 17% of the 2024-2025 budget. However, its planned withdrawal from the WHO could impact future funding.
- The oral polio vaccine, while effective, can in rare cases lead to variant polio outbreaks due to weakened strains in under-immunized communities.
With this financial commitment, Saudi Arabia joins global efforts to finally eradicate polio, a disease that has been nearly eliminated worldwide except for persistent cases in South Asia.
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