| ■ Another $1 Billion Needed to Eradicate Polio: WHO | 07.03.12 |
| It will take another $1 billion and at least two more years to halt the spread of polio and eradicate the disease in the four nations -- Afghanistan, India, Pakistan and Nigeria -- that still have polio, the World Health Organization estimates. So far, about $5 billion has been spent on the program, which previously set target dates of 2000 and 2005 to eradicate polio, CBC News reported. At a meeting scheduled Wednesday in Switzerland, WHO officials were to meet with health experts and representatives of donor nations to ensure that all of the program partners remain committed to the goal of eradicating polio. Delegates also were set to discuss a number of issues, such as war, health infrastructure, and rumors about the safety of the oral polio vaccine, that are hampering vaccination efforts in the four nations where polio has not been eradicated, CBC News said. |