Oxfam’s “From Poverty to Power”: When is eradicating a major disease a disaster for health care?
Laura Kerr, senior policy advocacy officer for child health at RESULTS U.K., discusses a new report on how the end of polio could present both risks and opportunities for donors. Kerr writes, “As things stand now, the potential crisis caused by the wind down of [the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI)] is not fully realized. This limits the ability of the global health community to have the much-needed frank conversation about what comes next after GPEI. Without leadership from the five GPEI partners to realistically address the imminent challenges which are currently presenting themselves, we’re walking straight into a preventable health financing crisis and it’s the most vulnerable in the world [who] will be left suffering” (1/30).