The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), a partnership that includes the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, will face a 30 percent budget cut in 2026, resulting in a $1.7 billion funding gap through 2029.
The shortfall is attributed to a widespread decline in foreign aid, led by the United States’ withdrawal from the WHO, alongside funding reductions from other major donors such as Germany and the United Kingdom.
In response to the cuts, the GPEI announced plans to scale back activities in lower-risk regions—except where outbreaks occur—and prioritize cost efficiencies.
“The significant reductions in funding… mean that certain activities will simply not happen,” said Jamal Ahmed, WHO’s Director of Polio Eradication, during a press conference on Tuesday.
To manage limited resources, the initiative will focus on surveillance and vaccination in high-risk areas and expand collaborations with other global health programs such as measles campaigns. It will also adopt fractional dosing strategies, using as little as one-fifth of a vaccine dose to extend supply while maintaining protection against infection.
Efforts to eradicate the paralysis-causing virus have spanned decades. Although mass vaccination campaigns have significantly reduced cases since 1988, complete eradication has remained elusive, with the first missed deadline occurring in 2000.
As of 2025, there have been 36 cases of wild poliovirus in Afghanistan and Pakistan—the only two countries where it remains endemic—while 149 cases of the vaccine-derived strain have been reported globally, including in Nigeria. Both figures represent a decline from 2024, according to GPEI data.
