UK aid to help vaccinate more than 400 million children a year against polio

International Development Secretary Alok Sharma has pledged new UK aid support to help vaccinate more than 400 million children a year against polio.

Without this new support, tens of thousands of children would be at risk of paralysis from the disease, which leaves many unable to walk for the rest of their lives.

The UK’s new package of up to £400 million will go towards the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. This means the UK, along with other donors, will help support more than 20 million health workers and volunteers to reach children with vaccines and other healthcare.

This funding which runs from 2020 to 2023 will help buy tens of millions doses of polio vaccine every year – enough to vaccinate more than 750 children a minute.

Global efforts to fight wild polio mean the disease now only exists in three countries worldwide – Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria.

The UK’s new pledge will help global efforts to end the disease for good.

“We have made tremendous progress to fight this debilitating disease, but our work must continue if we are to eradicate it forever. That’s why I am today committing fresh support to help immunise 400 million children a year around the world,” said International Development Secretary Alok Sharma.

This new pledge brings UK support to end polio up to £1.7 billion since 1995. Thanks to global efforts, backed by the UK, more than 18 million people are currently walking who would otherwise have been paralysed by the virus.

Original source: DFID
Published on 05 November 2019