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Nigeria: Country to Benefit from $200m Bill Gates, Rotary Grant
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This Day (Lagos)
29 November 2007
Posted to the web 29 November 2007
Constance Ikokwu
Washington, DC
A $200 million grant provided by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Rotary International for the eradication of polio will target Nigeria, Pakistan, India and Afghanistan, where the wild polio virus persists.
The grant will also be used in some other countries worldwide. Notably, the disease still affects children in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
But particular attention will be paid to these countries, THISDAY has learnt.
"I cannot say exactly how much will come out of it because the fund is still going into the global polio eradication funding. But the substantial part of it I'm sure will be used to support Nigeria. Definitely, we (Nigeria, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan) are the major beneficiaries. We are the ones still endemic," says Busuyi Onabolu who leads Rotary's volunteer and advocacy efforts in Nigeria.
Nigeria and India account for 85 per cent of the world's polio case. However, reports say progress has been made in all four countries. 220 cases have been reported in Nigeria this year compared to 921 during the same period last year.
The progress is attributed to a new approach launched by the Nigerian government last year, which added other health benefits to polio immunizations such as measles and DPT vaccinations, bed-nets, de-worming tablets, and Vitamin-A.
In spite of that, the country faces enormous financial difficulties in eradicating the disease.
According to Onabolu, "Nigeria still has a shortfall for the next two years of nearly $100 million for polio eradication but we hope our government and other people will come in and hhelp."
Rotary has already received the $100 million grant from the Gates Foundation and hopes to raise another $100 million over three years to match it. THISDAY gathered that the initial $100 million will be spent within a year on immunization activities to be carried out by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), which is a partnership spearheaded by the World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary International, the United States (US) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Era USCDCE. "The extraordinary dedication of Rotary members has played a critical role in bringing polio to the brink of eradication," co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates was quoted as saying.
"Eradicating polio will be one of the most significant public health accomplishments in history, and we are committed to helping reach that goal," he added.
The funds will be used by way of grants to WHO and UNICEF. It will focus on poliovirus surveillance activities, research on how to stop spread of the disease and education in communities most affected.
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Rotary has contributed U.S.$633 million to polio eradication since 1985, of which $ 55.5 million has supported immunization campaigns in Nigeria
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