WHO Warns US Aid Cuts Jeopardize Polio Eradication Efforts

Reuters (3/3, Rigby) reports, “The eradication of polio as a global health threat may be delayed unless U.S. funding cuts – potentially totaling hundreds of millions of dollars over several years – are reversed, a senior World Health Organization official has warned.” Hamid Jafari, WHO’s polio eradication director for the Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office, said that a $133 million shortfall from the US this year threatens efforts, especially in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where polio is spreading. Reuters notes that UNICEF’s polio grant was terminated last week “as the State Department cut 90% of USAID’s grants worldwide.” Jafari added, “We are looking at other funding sources...to sustain both the priority staff and priority activities.”