The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced Wednesday (Nov. 30) new grants for Pakistan’s polio eradication program and flood response.
The grants will fund initiatives aimed at providing assistance to polio survivors as well as address the needs of families affected by the floods. Part of it will go to the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the World Bank to buy vaccines and fund immunization campaigns, and for polio communication efforts.
In addition, Gates Foundation and the Japan International Cooperation Agency partnered in August to bolster Pakistan’s fight against polio. JICA loaned 5.63 billion rupees ($63.5 million) to Pakistan, but the Gates Foundation would repay the loan if Pakistan — which reported 161 polio cases this year — meets its polio eradication target come 2013.
“Pakistan announced important steps last week to implement its emergency plan more effectively. If implemented well, rapid progress can be made in stopping the virus,” Gates Foundation Senior Program Officer Michael Galway said. “We hope our additional support demonstrates our ongoing commitment to Pakistan as it deals with multiple challenges in managing the intense transmission of polio while simultaneously responding to acute situations such as this year’s flood in Sindh.”
The Gates Foundation has allocated more than 198 million rupees in grants for Pakistan alone this year. Part of the money went to the WHO for the physical rehabilitation of about 200 children paralyzed by polio, to Sindh to assist more than 4,400 families hit by the floods and to Save the Children for relief operations.
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