Saudi Arabia has confirmed its $ 500 million obligation to the global polio expulsion initiative (GPEI) aimed at eradicating wild polio and controlling vaccine-derived polio outbreaks in Pakistan and Afghanistan, announced the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday.
The funds, originally pledged in April 2024, will be awarded to support the efforts to eliminate the wild load of the virus, which remains endemic in both countries. Together, Pakistan and Afghanistan reported 99 cases of wild polio in the previous year, according to WHO data.
GPEI has set new target dates for the purpose of ending wild polio by 2027 and vaccine-derived polio in the 2029 expanded from the original target of 2026 for both.
Meanwhile, the United States has historically one of the biggest donors to GPEI announced its intention to withdraw from WHO, a step that could affect funding for the Global Health Initiative. Despite this, the US contributed 17 percent of the GPEI budget for 2024-2025, as per year. WHO figures.
