Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation along with Qatar will launch the Polio Legacy Challenge to help eradicate the disease in Afghanistan, a top official of the organisation told Gulf Times.
According to Chris Elias, the president of the Global Development Division at Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the campaign will be done in conjunction with the Islamic Development Bank, along with Qatar, UAE and Saudi Arabia.
“With our work on polio eradication, we are actually launching something called the Polio Legacy Challenge with the Islamic Development Bank.
“Gates Foundation and the governments of Qatar, UAE, and Saudi Arabia will provide some funding through the Afghan Reconstruction Trust Fund to support the primary healthcare system in Afghanistan,” Elias said.
“This is a new initiative that is just beginning now. We are basically working with the countries that have indicated their interest in doing it and in the process of finalising the agreements with the Islamic Development Bank. We hope to launch it in early 2025,” he explained.
“We will have a governing body in which all of the contributors will participate. The funds will be administered through the Islamic Development Bank for support of the primary health care system in Afghanistan,” continued the official.
Elias noted that currently he chairs the board of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, and has been working with Qatar on some of the regional initiatives to help finalise the job of polio eradication.
“We have seen the wild polio virus in the two endemic countries of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Under the auspices of the World Health Organisation, the regional subcommittee on polio eradication is co-chaired by Qatar and UAE.
“The ministers of health of the Middle East region have actually been very helpful in encouraging both Pakistan and Afghanistan to do what is necessary for the final elimination of polio virus. So again, Qatar has been very helpful in this regard.”
Polio is still present in Afghanistan, with the wild poliovirus endemic only in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
In 2024, Afghanistan reported 23 cases. In 2022, Afghanistan reported two cases, and five during 2023.
