New Funds Aim to Protect an Additional 370 Million Children Against Polio Each Year

Today, the European Commission, the European Investment Bank, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced a new financing partnership to address critical global health issues. Objectives: eradicating polio and ensuring access to medical innovations for those who need them most. The World Health Organization and UNICEF, as implementation partners for polio eradication funding, will mobilize resources to eradicate polio, deliver other child vaccines, and strengthen healthcare systems in low and middle-income countries so that they can better respond to emerging health threats.

The funding package, projected to reach 1.1 billion euros, aims to provide new funds for eradicating a disease (a feat that has only happened once in human history). It will also help address health and development challenges facing the world’s most vulnerable people, who otherwise lack equitable access to healthcare services and innovations.

“We are on the brink of wiping out polio from the face of the Earth. The European Commission, the EIB, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are joining forces to help the world cross the final stage in eradicating this disease. The 1 billion euro funding supported by our ‘Global Gateway’ investment strategy will help us invest globally in stronger medical systems and locally in the production, manufacturing, and administration of vaccines and medicines where they are needed most. International cooperation helped us end the COVID-19 pandemic. Now it will help us eliminate polio once and for all,” stated Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission.

This partnership marks a significant increase in funding for global health and human development within the European Commission’s European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+). The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is also expected to contribute to global health with the same magnitude of new funding, maximizing the impact of every euro promised and allocated by the EU and the European Investment Bank.

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“United, we aim to write the final chapter in the history of polio today. The European Investment Bank is a major player in this unique partnership bringing together philanthropists and health stakeholders. The bank will provide 500 million euros for investments in support of the Global Polio Eradication Program. This initiative represents a crucial step in intensifying immunization and strengthening healthcare systems. This way, all children, regardless of their living conditions, will be protected from polio,” says Werner Hoyer, President of the European Investment Bank.

To achieve rapid progress in eradicating the wild polio virus, the partnership aims to provide payments totaling 500 million euros to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, especially to the World Health Organization and UNICEF. These funds will cover polio vaccination for approximately 370 million children annually. They will also enable other child vaccination campaigns, including vaccinations against measles and other routine immunizations, and strengthen healthcare systems to better respond to emerging health threats, as the polio program has already done in the fight against COVID-19, Ebola, and other diseases. Currently, wild polio virus remains endemic in only two countries (Pakistan and Afghanistan), with 80% of cases of polio virus variants found in just four sub-national regions.

“Thanks to medical innovations, the world has eradicated a human disease, smallpox. Today, we are on the verge of eradicating another disease, one caused by the wild polio virus. We want to ensure that no child anywhere in the world suffers from this severe disease. I am confident that we will eradicate polio once and for all and improve access to medical innovations, especially for people in the poorest countries,” said Bill Gates, Co-Chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Another 500 million euros are intended to enhance the innovation capacity of healthcare systems in low and middle-income countries. This includes new funding for initiatives supported by the European Commission, such as efforts to facilitate access to medical innovations like vaccines and mRNA-based therapies for people in low and middle-income countries under the Global Gateway, Europe’s investment plan for the entire world. More healthcare investments will be discussed by numerous global leaders and partners during the upcoming Global Gateway Forum (October 25-26).

“Thanks to the determination and partnership of the European Commission and the European Investment Bank, vaccines, medicines, and other vital innovations should reach the people who need them most, improving the health of communities everywhere. We know that when a community is healthy, the area’s economy can grow,” said Melinda French Gates, Co-Chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

“To eradicate polio, we must reach unvaccinated or under-vaccinated children in the most remote and hard-to-reach areas. This new funding will not only help us move towards a polio-free world but will also contribute to building more sustainable and resilient healthcare systems to protect the same children and communities who are at risk from numerous other health threats,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the WHO.

“Eradicating polio is achievable, but progress is fragile. We cannot lose focus for a moment. This new funding will help immunize all children against polio and thus eradicate the disease. At the same time, it will strengthen community healthcare systems. No child should suffer from a preventable disease,” said Catherine Russell, Executive Director of UNICEF.

Specifically, the financing partnership is expected to include:

• A new financial package of 500 million euros for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (as mentioned above).
• Investments and grants totaling 500 million euros to enhance access to medical innovations, strengthen healthcare systems, and prepare them for potential pandemics: The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation intends to provide grants and investments amounting to 250 million euros, in line with the 250 million euros of investments to be carried out by the European Investment Bank, guaranteed by the European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus.
• Grants totaling 80 million euros for technical assistance: The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation plans to offer grants of 40 million euros (matching the 40 million euros to be provided by the European Commission) to provide technical assistance and ensure that global health programs reach their full potential.

The partnership announced today is built upon existing collaborations between the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the European Commission, and EU member states. These include a support package worth 100 million euros for the newly established African Medicines Agency (AMA) and African national drug regulatory agencies, as well as various regional initiatives, the African Medical Diagnostics Platform (supporting African partners in efforts to increase access to laboratory tests and reduce their costs), and the coordination of medical initiatives such as COVAX, a global collaboration aimed at accelerating the development, production, and equitable access to tests, treatments, and vaccines for COVID-19.