IPS: As Donors Ramp up Polio Funding, Worries of Comeback Persist
“…Donor governments and philanthropists pledged $2.6 billion on Tuesday in Abu Dhabi to immunize 450 million children against polio each year — further beating back a bug that is only endemic nowadays in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Some global health experts say mankind is walking its ‘final mile’ towards a polio-free world, but others warn that so-called polioviruses could re-emerge and spread swiftly, as was witnessed to deadly effect in the Philippines earlier this year…” (Reinl, 11/20).

The Telegraph: Bill’s billion-dollar polio pledge: Gates funds final push on eradication
“Philanthropist Bill Gates has urged countries to keep fighting polio as he pledged more than $1 billion to chase down the last few cases of the fatal childhood disease. Mr. Gates’ donation makes up half of $2.6 billion promised by international donors and affected countries at the Reaching the Last Mile Forum in Abu Dhabi, which is dedicated to fighting the world’s most intractable killers. Other funders to make significant pledges were the U.K., which promised £400m ($514m)…” (Gulland, 11/20).