Elated at the progress made in two of the three countries where polio has never been stopped, and India's recent success marking three polio free years, the Lawrence Ellison Foundation has announced a donation of $100 million over five years, to support global polio eradication.
Roughly $20 million of that contribution was delivered in 2013. The donation would help fund the Global Polio Eradication Initiative's $5.5 billion six year plan to eradicate polio.
India's achievement has helped reinvigorate an almost 25-year global plan to rid the world of polio, and has galvanised the global health community to commit to achieving a polio free world by 2018.
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), launched in 1988, is spearheaded by national governments, the World Health Organisation (WHO), the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, and Unicef, among others.
The Lawrence Ellison Foundation brings the number of major philanthropies to 10 that have pledged a total of $535 million, in addition to the $1.8 billion commitment announced by Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, during 2013-2018 to support the GPEI strategy.
“The global polio eradication effort has done a tremendous job of getting us to the last mile. The lack of resources can't be what stands in the way of delivering on the promise of a world without polio. Larry Ellison's generous donation would help to ensure that all children are protected from this and other vaccine preventable diseases,” said Bill Gates, in a statement.
At the Global Vaccine Summit held in Abu Dhabi last April, more than 35 government and private donors, including the Gates Foundation, pledged $4 billion to support the strategy, recognising the unique opportunity to end the disease forever.
Polio can lead to paralysis or death. There are only three polio endemic countries in the world - Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria - down from 125 in 1988. Another five countries that previously had been polio free were re-infected in 2013.
Last year, following a year with the lowest ever number of new wild poliovirus cases worldwide, the global effort faced challenges posed by an inability to vaccinate children and insecurity in Northwest Pakistan and Northern Nigeria, and outbreaks in conflict zones in the Horn of Africa and Syria.
The number of new polio cases in Afghanistan and Nigeria were reduced by 65 and 57 per cent respectively, compared to 2012. This January, India celebrated one of the most impressive accomplishments in global health.
After three years during which no new wild poliovirus cases were reported, India is now considered to be polio free. Once considered the hardest place to eradicate polio, India's success offers valuable lessons that are being applied in the remaining polio endemic countries and the confidence that eradication is possible.