Saudi Arabia has signed a landmark partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today to protect 370 million children annually from polio and single millions out of poverty across 33 Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) member countries, reported the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Accordingly, the Foundation will open a regional office in Riyadh to facilitate the implementation of the partnership.
During the World Economic Forum (WEF) Special Meeting that started today, ministers and senior officials announced a total cost of more than US $620 for the implementation process.
The announcement was made in the presence of His Excellency Dr. Abdullah A. Al Rabeeah, Advisor to the Royal Court and Supervisor General of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid & Relief Centre (KSrelief) and His Excellency Fahad bin Abdurrahman Al-Jalajel, Minister of Health of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The meeting was also honored with the presence of Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) and Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
They highlighted that while Africa became wild polio-free since 2020, Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two wild polio endemic countries remaining.
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) is dedicated to turning the world into certified polio-free with zero polio cases.
The Kingdom has particularly played a pivotal role in reducing the cases in these countries from more than 300 cases in 2014 to 12 in 2023. Now the Kingdom honorably shares the responsibility with its partners to help deliver more polio vaccines, measles immunizations, and other vital health services to millions of children every year.
“Polio is a horrific disease that deserves to be in the history books once and for all,” said Bill Gates. “I am proud to see the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, together with partners across the Middle East, step up to help deliver more polio vaccines…” Gates added.
To foster the progress toward a polio-free world with reduced poverty rates, Saudi Arabia and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced the following:
– The Kingdom has pledged US $500 million over the next five years dedicated to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, marking the largest contribution made by the Kingdom to polio eradication efforts.
– The Kingdom and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have pledged US $3 million and US $15 million respectively over three years to enhance the Polio Legacy Challenge.
– The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is committed to establishing a regional office in Riyadh.
– The Kingdom will pledge US $100 million to support the Lives and Livelihoods Fund (LLF), the largest initiative in the Middle East aiming at alleviating poverty rates across 33 IsDB member countries.
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