Although polio has become increasingly rare worldwide, concerns are growing that the World Health Organization’s goal of eradicating the disease is slipping out of reach.
To help close the remaining gap, the Gates Foundation and the Mohamed bin Zayed Foundation for Humanity announced a joint $1.9 billion investment toward ending the disease. The Gates Foundation will contribute $1.2 billion of that total.
The funds, they said, will support “child survival efforts: expanding vaccine access, protecting newborns, and sustaining critical immunization programs in fragile and conflict-affected settings.”
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The WHO set a goal in 1988 to eradicate polio, and since then there has been a 99% decline in illnesses.
But the Gates Foundation noted that global deaths among children under age 5 are projected to rise for the first time in more than a century, blaming the increase on deaths from preventable diseases.
“Far too many children are still dying from diseases we know how to prevent,” said Bill Gates. “The tools exist — vaccines, treatments and proven delivery strategies — and countries are working hard to get them to those who need them most. The support announced today will strengthen those efforts, protect the most vulnerable children and help the world stay on course to end polio for good.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said most people infected with poliovirus, which causes polio, do not experience symptoms. In severe cases, polio can cause permanent disability and death.
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In the U.S., 92% of children are fully vaccinated against polio by age 2, the CDC said. The vaccine is considered 99% effective after three doses.
In the early 1950s, polio caused between 13,000 and 20,000 paralytic cases annually in the U.S. The development of vaccines in the mid-1950s dramatically reduced that number. By 1960, paralytic cases dropped to 2,525, and by 1965, there were just 61 reported.
