Global initiative to eradicate polio faces funding gap

Prime Ministers of Malta, Australia, Pakistan and UN secretary-general take advantage of Commonwealth platform to encourage world leaders to help with eradicating polio

Polio survivor Ramesh Ferris encourages leaders to donate to the cause
Polio survivor Ramesh Ferris encourages leaders to donate to the cause

The global battle to eradicate polio is facing a funding gap, according to the Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-Moon.

On the sides of the Commonwealth Summit, the Prime Ministers of Malta, Australia and Pakistan along with the foreign ministers of Canada and Nigeria, spoke of the need to give the fight a final push.

Polio, which can cause lifelong paralysis, can be prevented with a vaccine that costs only $0.50. In the 1980s, polio paralyzed at least 1,000 children every day all over the world, but today, after international efforts to immunize every child everywhere, 5 million people are walking who would otherwise be paralyzed and the world is almost polio-free.

The success is the result of an improved vaccine and the intense efforts over the past several years by the Global Polio Eradication Partnership, a partnership that includes Rotary International, the UN Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, UNICEF, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and WHO. Since the Initiative’s inception in 1988, the number of polio cases has dropped by 99 percent.

In 1988 there were 350,000 cases of polio in the world and in 2014, only 359. Never before in the history of polio have there been so few children in so few countries with the crippling virus, but obstacles remain on the road to zero cases.

Today, thanks to the global effort for polio eradication, all but just two countries (Afghanistan and Pakistan) have eliminated polio within their borders.

"I was shocked and surprised to learn that, if we manage to eradicate polio, it would only be the second time that a disease would be eradicated in the history of mankind," Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said.

Polio survivor Ramesh Ferris, born in India and adopted by a Canadian family, contracted polio when he was a baby of six months. With therapy, he started walking again and has now made it his mission to support the fight against polio.

"This is a race against time and I call on the leaders to donate generously to the mission. Failure and complacency are not an option,” Ferris said, as he thanked Muscat for “championing” the cause and for his determination.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said he shared the disappointment that polio had not yet been eradicated.

“But, we are getting there,” he said. Australia has contributed a global $72 million to support vaccination and programmes.

UN secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon recounted how polio had “stuck down” many of his generation “and we will now strike down polio”.

Ban said it had been a long road convincing political, religious, traditional and civil society leaders to spread awareness son the eradication of polio and the importance of the vaccine. One such challenge was to convince some countries that “vaccinated boys would not lose their masculinity”.

Addressing her first issue, Commonwealth secretary-general designate Patricia Scotland said she would be “the midwife delivering the coup de grâce to polio”.

“I will not cease until this disease is eradicated,” she added.