LONDON: Support from Arab Gulf countries for the global campaign to wipe out polio are “extremely important,” health officials said Tuesday, as vaccination efforts face a severe funding shortfall.
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative has lost a third of its budget for 2026 due to cuts in foreign aid, predominantly from the US and Europe.
GCC countries, however, have boosted support for the campaign, with Saudi Arabia committing $500 million to the project through KSrelief earlier this year.
Leaders from the initiative said support from the Gulf had been particularly important given their relations with the two counties where the risk from polio is highest — Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“The political, moral and financial support of GCC countries is extremely important, especially now,” Jamal Ahmed, the World Health Organization’s director of polio eradication, told a media briefing Tuesday.
