The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has announced its commitment to a new financing partnership that aims to eradicate polio and ensure that innovations in health are more accessible to the people who need them most.

The foundation is collaborating with the European Commission, the European Investment Bank, the World Health Organization (WHO), and UNICEF on the initiative, which includes a €1.1 billion ($1.16 billion) financing package pledged to provide new funding in the effort to eradicate a human disease for only the second time in history. The partnership marks a significant increase in funding for global health and human development under the European Commission’s European Fund for Sustainable Development plus (EFSD+) and is expected to include a match of new complementary funding for global health by the Gates Foundation.

The program includes €500 million ($527 million) in new funding for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative—specifically for WHO and UNICEF; €500 million in investments and grants to strengthen health systems, ensure health innovations are more accessible, and prepare for future pandemics; and €80 million ($84 million) in grants for technical assistance.

“Thanks to medical innovations, the world eradicated one human disease—smallpox. Today we’re on the verge of ending another—wild poliovirus. I am committed to ensuring that no child, anywhere in the world, faces this awful disease,” said Gates Foundation co-chair Bill Gates. “I am also optimistic that we will eradicate polio once and for all and make health innovations more accessible for everyone, particularly those in the poorest countries.” 

(Photo credit: Getty Images/shylendrahoode)