Nigeria, Others Get $1.2bn For Polio Eradication
By Victor Ernest with agency report
Global health leaders have pledged 1.2 billion dollars to reaffirm their commitment to eradicating polio and finance efforts to end the disease in Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Major pledges include: 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 donors
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.
”Thanks to the extraordinary efforts of governments, health workers, donors and the partners of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), a public-private partnership dedicated to ending the disease.
”The highly contagious virus has now been eliminated in all but three countries: Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan. There have been only five cases to date in 2017.
”However, children remain at risk everywhere until polio is completely stopped,” a UN statement said.
