The European Commission, the European Investment Bank and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have announced that they will undertake further financial cooperation to address major global health issues. The funds will be used to eradicate polio and provide those in need with access to innovative health solutions.

The World Health Organization and UNICEF, as project partners, will distribute the resources needed to eradicate polio, improve the distribution of other childhood vaccinations, and improve health systems to enable a more effective response to new health threats.

The financial package of an anticipated €1.1 billion is expected to provide funds for the eradication of a specific human disease, something that has only been done once before in history, as well as to address the health and development problems of the world's neediest groups of people, who do not have the same access to health care services or innovation as other groups.

- We are going to wipe polio off the face of the Earth. The European Commission, the EIB and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are working together in the final stretch. We will use our EU Global Gateway investment strategy to allocate €1 billion to invest in improving health systems around the world, as well as in producing and administering vaccines and medicines locally where they are needed most. Global cooperation helped us end the COVID-19 pandemic, and now it will help us annihilate polio," said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

This cooperation means a significant increase in global health and human development funding from the European Commission's European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus (EFZR+). Complementary funding is to be provided by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, maximizing the impact of every euro spent by the EU and the European Investment Bank.

- Together, we are closing the latest chapter in the history of polio eradication. The European Investment Bank is playing its part in a unique collaboration with philanthropic and health partners, committing €500 million in investments to support the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. The initiative will be a milestone for immunization and health care, ensuring that every child, regardless of his or her situation, is protected from polio, said Werner Hoyer, president of the European Investment Bank.

To ensure rapid progress in eradicating the wild strain of the polio virus, the partners are to contribute 500 million euros in payments to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, specifically to the World Health Organization and UNICEF. The funds will be used to vaccinate nearly 370 million children against polio each year, to provide children with essential health services in addition to polio vaccinations, including measles and other routine immunizations, and to improve health systems to better prepare them to respond to new threats, as has been the case with the use of the polio program in the fight against COVID-19, the Ebola virus and other diseases. Currently, the wild strain of polio virus is endemic in only two countries - Pakistan and Afghanistan - and 80 percent of the virus' variants are found in just four regions.

- Thanks to medical innovations, we have already succeeded in ridding the world of one disease - smallpox. Right now, we are not far from eliminating another - the wild polio virus. I am committed to ensuring that no child in the world has to face this terrible disease. I am also confident that we will eradicate polio once and for all and make health innovations more accessible to all, especially those living in the poorest countries, " said Bill Gates, co-chairman of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Another €500 million is to be allocated to increase the capacity of innovative health systems in low- and middle-income countries. This includes new funding for initiatives that the European Commission is supporting, such as efforts to improve access to health innovations (e.g., vaccines and mRNA-based therapeutics) for people in low- and middle-income countries, as part of the European investment plan for the world, Global Gateway. At the upcoming Global Gateway Forum (October 25-26), policymakers and partners from around the world will discuss other investments in global health.

- Thanks to the leading role and cooperation of the European Commission and the European Investment Bank, vaccines, medicines and other life-saving innovations should reach those most in need, making communities around the world healthier. We know well that when a community is healthy, the economy grows," said Melinda French Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

- Reaching unvaccinated or under-vaccinated children who live in the most remote and inaccessible areas is crucial to completing the polio eradication project, said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director general.

- These new funds will help us not only rid the world of polio, but also create more sustainable and resilient health systems that protect these same children and communities at risk of polio from the many other health risks they face, he added.

- Polio eradication is within reach, but progress is uncertain and we must continue to act with great efficiency and precision, UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell stressed.

- The new funds will help ensure that all children are vaccinated to eradicate polio, while improving community-based health systems. No child should suffer from a disease that is easily preventable, she pointed out.

Specific amounts are to include:

500 million in new funding for global polio eradication initiative
500 million euros in investments and grants for greater access to health innovations, improving health systems and preparing for future pandemics: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation plans to provide €250 million in grants and investments to complement the €250 million in investments made by the European Investment Bank and guaranteed by the European Fund for Sustainable Development plus
With 80 million euros in technical assistance grants, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation plans to supplement 40 million euros in grants from the European Commission to provide technical assistance and fully realize the potential of global health programs.

The announced partnership builds on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's previous collaboration with the European Commission and EU countries. Previous projects include a €100 million aid package for the establishment of the African Medicines Agency and national drug regulatory agencies or regional initiatives in Africa, for the creation of the Health Diagnostics Platform for Africa, which supports African partners in increasing access to and reducing the cost of laboratory testing, and for the coordination of health initiatives such as COVAX, a global project to accelerate the development, production and equitable sharing of tests, drugs and vaccines on COVID-19.