The Hindu : National : Gates Foundation’s big donation for polio campaign

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Nov 30, 2007
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Gates Foundation’s big donation for polio campaign

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The Rotary International is being given $200 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for a global campaign to eradicate polio that still affects children in parts of Africa, Asia and West Asia.

The Rotary has received $100 million from the Gates Foundation, which will be spent within a year on immunisation activities carried out by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative – a partnership spearheaded by the World Health Organisation, Rotary International, the United States Centres for Diseases Control and Prevention and the UNICEF. The Rotary will raise an equal amount in three years to be spent for the same purpose.

Largest grant

The polio eradication grant is one of the largest challenge grants ever given by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the largest received by the Rotary in its 102-year history. The Rotary has contributed $633 million to the polio eradication programme so far.

WHO data

Last month, the WHO released data confirming that all the four remaining polio-endemic countries are on track to achieving eradication.

In particular, significant progress has been made in India and Nigeria, which together account for 85 per cent of the world’s polio cases.

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