Norway provides support to efforts to eradicate polio

- Polio can be eradicated within the space of five to six years. Norway is to increase its level of support for efforts to eradicate polio to NOK 240 million (USD 40 million), Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has estimated that it will cost around NOK 30 billion to achieve the complete eradication of polio in five years’ time. Given the current level of funding, we are around NOK 12 billion short of the funding needed to reach this goal. Norway will announce its increased contribution to the fight against polio at the vaccine summit in Abu Dhabi this week.

“Thanks to tremendous progress in 2012, we now have a unique opportunity to change history and eradicate polio,” said Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “Norway is a leader in contributing to health and development around the world.  Its commitment to polio eradication is another example of Norway’s generosity to keep children healthy everywhere.”

This funding will be channeled through the World Health Organization (WHO).

“From our own historical experience, we know the fear and suffering caused by the polio virus. We now have the opportunity to eradicate a disease that is continuing to harm and kill people,” Minister of International Development Heikki Eidsvoll Holmås said.

Read more: Stoltenberg and Gates met in Oslo and discussed maternal and child health