January 21, 2009 | Read Time: 2 minutes
As part of a massive philanthropic push to eradicate polio, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today gave $255-million to Rotary International to fight the deadly virus in Africa and South Asia.
In addition to the Gates money, the British and German governments pledged $150-million and $130-million, respectively, to curb the spread of polio.
The foundation and government funds will support the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, which includes Rotary, the World Health Organization, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Unicef.
The money will be used to establish “National Immunization Days” in polio-prone countries, in which young children by the thousands are given oral polio vaccines. It will also pay for extra vaccinations in high-risk areas, research for new drugs, and new ways to track polio cases.
Rotary, with headquarters in Evanston, Ill., must match the Gates grant by raising $100-million from other donors by July 2012.
Gates made a similar challenge grant for $100-million in 2007. So far Rotary has raised $60-million to match that award. (The German and British contributions do not count toward the money needed to match the Gates grants.)
Some ‘Setbacks’
Polio has been an elusive foe for the world’s governments and charitable organizations.
It has been wiped out in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere, but persists in poor countries, primarily Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, and Pakistan. While the number of polio cases reported last year was less than 2,000, more children were infected in 2008 than in 2007.
“As we sit here today, we have to acknowledge there have been setbacks and it makes the exact time for eradication not clear,” Mr. Gates said. If prevention efforts falter, said the Microsoft co-founder, an outbreak is likely.
Antipolio work in the four countries has been hampered by cultural barriers and security problems.
For example, in northern Nigeria, vaccination efforts were stymied in 2003 when Muslim clerics claimed that polio drugs were part of a secret American plot to spread HIV/AIDS, while in Afghanistan last year, a suicide bomber killed two United Nations doctors who were inoculating villagers.
Despite these problems, Mr. Gates said polio was near its “end game” and encouraged other foundations and governments to contribute financially.
“Every delay increases the cost to maintain these intense campaigns,” he said. “The faster we move, the quicker we can solve these problems.”
He said the world’s financial problems should not hinder such monetary commitments.
During a speech today at the Rotary International Assembly, the humanitarian group’s annual meeting, Mr. Gates said that his family has been personally affected by polio. His wife’s aunt was partially paralyzed by it and is forced to wear leg braces to this day.
“Our children only know what polio is because of their aunt,” according to a text of his remarks to the Rotary members. “Otherwise, the disease would just be another historical fact they learn about in school.”
