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Home/About the Foundation/Press Releases/Global Polio Eradication Initiative Launches 2010-2012 Strategic Plan for Interrupting Polio Worldwide
GRANTEE ANNOUNCEMENT
June 18, 2010 

Global Polio Eradication Initiative Launches 2010-2012 Strategic Plan for Interrupting Polio Worldwide

New polio strategy builds on 99% drop in Nigeria cases but faces 50% funding shortfall

GENEVA -- In Geneva this Friday, a broad range of stakeholders will formally launch the new Strategic Plan 2010-2012 for eradicating wild poliovirus.

Across Africa, 10 of the 15 previously polio-free countries re-infected in 2009 have successfully stopped their outbreaks1. Key endemic countries are witnessing historic gains against the disease. Nowhere is progress more evident than Nigeria, where case numbers have plummeted by more than 99% – from 312 cases at this time last year, to three in 2010. In India, for the first time ever, the remaining endemic states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have not reported any wild poliovirus type 1 cases concurrently for more than six months.

To read the whole press release, visit the WHO website.

 

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Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Jeff Raikes and Co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.
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