Eradicating Polio - Gates Foundation to Donate 1.2 Billion Dollars
by Naba Batool
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According to the latest reports, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has announced that they will be donating 1.2 billion dollars to help eradicate polio from the world. It was announced when all the health experts were gathered in Berlin.
Bill Gates who is the co-chair of the Gates Foundation said that “Polio eradication is within reach. But as far as we have come, the disease remains a threat."
The world made a promise to #EndPolio for good. No one should live in fear of this preventable disease.
The Gates Foundation is proud to commit $1.2B toward helping health workers stop all forms of this virus and protect children forever. https://t.co/oA7RNzcOIy
— Gates Foundation (@gatesfoundation) October 16, 2022
The pledged money will be donated to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. It is a public-private partnership that is mostly led by national governments to end the polio disease by the year 2026.
Polio is a contagious disease that can make people paralyze for life if not catered to at the right time or early stages. It disrupts the central nervous system and also damages the working of the spinal cord and the brain.
GPEI has successfully reduced the number of polio cases by more than 99 percent. Currently, Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries that are suffering from polio cases because of vaccine resistance.
According to the statement released by the health officials of the foundation "Despite this historic progress, interruptions in routine immunization, vaccine misinformation, political unrest, and the tragic floods in Pakistan in 2022 have underscored the urgent need to finish the job against polio."
