$151 Million new polio funding

The Government of Canada continues to demonstrate its commitment and leadership in the fight to eradicate polio, announcing a new contribution of CAN $151 million over the next three years to support the work of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI). Canada’s Minister of International Development, the Hon. Ahmed Hussen, formally announced Canada’s next pledge to the GPEI at Zone 28-32 Institute in Toronto, Ontario on September 20, 2024.

 

 

Canada has been a leading supporter of the global polio eradication effort since its inception and across successive governments, helping reduce cases globally by over 99% and prevent more than 20 million cases of paralysis from polio. This most recent funding, which brings Canada’s total contributions to more than CAN $1 billion, will support the ongoing efforts to immunize 370 million children annually. Canada’s overall contribution has also helped build and will ensure the continuation of increasingly important health infrastructure in some of the most vulnerable regions of the world. In addition to vaccinating children against polio, this infrastructure also delivers other essential health services, including critical surveillance and tracking systems.

 

“Building on Canada’s leadership in global health, today’s investment will strengthen our partnership with the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. By protecting children who are most at risk from this preventable disease and providing support for health workers at the forefront of this effort, we will be one step closer to eradicating polio,” said Ahmed Hussen PC MP, Minister of International Development for the Government of Canada.

 

“Rotary members in Canada and throughout the world are thrilled to welcome this new investment to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative,” said Jennifer Jones, Past President of Rotary International in 2022-23. “As a founding member of the GPEI, ending polio has been Rotary’s top priority since the beginning, and the Canadian government has been with us every step. With the finish line so close, every contribution to the global effort is a critical step towards a world without polio for children everywhere.”

 

Today, polio continues to spread in some of the most challenging places in the world to deliver health services, like Gaza, where variant poliovirus recently paralyzed a child for the first time in 25 years. Afghanistan and Pakistan are the final two countries where the wild poliovirus remains endemic. The GPEI continues to adapt its approach to reach every child with polio vaccines and other essential health services in these and other affected countries that are challenged by setbacks in routine immunization, security threats, and climate catastrophes.