Abu Dhabi summit boosts Pakistan’s bid to end polio

ABU DHABI: Pakistan has emerged at the center of a global polio funding drive after international donors pledged $1.9 billion in Abu Dhabi to speed up eradication efforts, with Pakistan remaining one of only two countries where the virus is still endemic.

Pakistan committed $154 million to strengthen nationwide vaccination campaigns, surveillance and emergency response.

Pakistan’s Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal represented the country at the event, which was also attended by Bill Gates, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and members of the UAE leadership, including Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Sheikha Mariam bint Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Minister Ahsan Iqbal said the country is intensifying door-to-door vaccination efforts, especially in high-risk areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Karachi.

Major international pledges included $1.2 billion from the Gates Foundation, $140 million from the Mohamed bin Zayed Foundation for Humanity, $450 million from Rotary International, $100 million from Bloomberg Philanthropies, $62 million from Germany, $46 million from the United States, $6 million from Japan, $4 million from the Islamic Food Council and America (NIFTRI) Luxembourg, together with contributions from other partner countries.

Health officials said the new funding will help Pakistan recruit and train more frontline vaccinators, improve cold chain systems and expand surveillance of mobile and cross-border populations, particularly along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

Although global polio cases have fallen by more than 99%, Pakistan and Afghanistan have reported new infections this year, underscoring the need for continued international and domestic support.

Authorities said Pakistan’s success is now seen as critical to achieving global eradication, with officials warning that failure to eradicate the virus locally will continue to pose a risk globally.

Polio once paralyzed about 1,000 children every day in more than 125 countries. If eliminated, it would become only the second human disease ever eliminated after smallpox and could save the world more than $33 billion by the year 2100.