Latest news with #GlobalPolioEradicationInitiative
Hans India
5 days ago
- Health
- Hans India
Pakistan confirms 11th polio case of 2025
Islamabad: Pakistan has confirmed its 11th case of wild poliovirus this year after the virus was detected in a child from the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination said in a statement on Monday. According to the ministry, the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health in Islamabad confirmed the presence of the virus in stool samples collected from a child in Diamer district. The detection came shortly after the conclusion of the third nationwide polio vaccination campaign of the year, which took place from May 26 to June 1. The campaign reached more than 45 million children under the age of five across 159 districts, including high-risk areas, according to health officials. Health officials have urged parents and caregivers to ensure their children receive multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine, calling the current campaign a vital opportunity to shield children from the crippling virus, Xinhua news agency reported. Pakistan reported 74 polio cases in 2024, according to official data. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where wild poliovirus remains endemic. Polio workers have frequently been targeted in attacks, particularly in the northwest and southwest regions. One of the reasons for the presence of the virus is the refusal of the majority of people to have their children vaccinated. Polio health workers have been victims of targeted killings and attacks by militant groups, who have opposed anti-polio campaigns in the country. According to the World Health Organization, Polio is a highly infectious viral disease that largely affects children under 5 years of age. The virus is transmitted by person-to-person spread mainly through the faecal-oral route or, less frequently, by a common vehicle (e.g. contaminated water or food) and multiplies in the intestine, from where it can invade the nervous system and cause paralysis. In 1988, the World Health Assembly adopted a resolution for the worldwide eradication of polio, marking the launch of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, spearheaded by national governments, WHO, Rotary International, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), UNICEF, and later joined by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. Wild poliovirus cases have decreased by over 99 per cent since 1988, from an estimated 350,000 cases in more than 125 endemic countries to 6 reported cases in 2021. Of the 3 strains of wild poliovirus (type 1, type 2 and type 3), wild poliovirus type 2 was eradicated in 1999, and wild poliovirus type 3 was eradicated in 2020. As of 2022, endemic wild poliovirus type 1 remains in two countries: Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Tatler Asia
09-05-2025
- Health
- Tatler Asia
Bill Gates' philanthropy powerhouse looks East: What to know about the Gates Foundation
Core initiatives with global impact The foundation lists four major areas of impact, each tackling specific development goals. Global Health 2023 Funding: US$1.86 billion The foundation is primarily known worldwide for its initiatives in global health, which focus on eradicating infectious diseases and improving healthcare access in low-income countries. So far the collective efforts helped along by the foundation has had major impacts: the Gates Foundation reports, among other things, a 99 per cent drop in global polio cases since its Global Polio Eradication Initiative was launched in 1988. The foundation is also working to eradicate polio, and reports that over 2.2 billion cases of malaria has been prevented since 2000, saving 12.7 million lives. There foundation also spearheads major efforts against HIV and tuberculosis. Global Development Because 'disease, conflict and suffering thrive on poverty', the foundation's global development programs target poverty by creating 'virtuous cycles' of opportunities for people, communities and countries that lead to prosperity and well-being. Under this broad scope, the organisation has initiatives in agriculture, digital connectivity and infrastructure, economic opportunity, education, inclusive financial systems and other areas. Gender Equality The foundation supports initiatives that help women and girls lead healthier, more empowered lives, particularly across Africa and South Asia—'Because when women and girls have the power to choose their own destinies, the whole world is better off.' Education Though primarily focused in the United States, the foundation also supports education initiatives around the world, particularly those for primary school students in sub-Saharan Africa and India. Don't miss: For women in Asia, there's still a long road ahead to true gender equality Rethinking its approach and focus Despite its enormous reach and record of measurable impact, the Gates Foundation has not been without controversy. Critics have raised concerns over its outsize influence on global health policy, with some questioning whether a single private entity—no matter how well-intentioned—should wield such power in shaping international priorities. Others have argued that the foundation's focus on technology-led 'quick wins' can sometimes overlook the deeper structural reforms needed to create sustainable change. In response, the foundation has acknowledged the need to work more closely with local partners and ensure that its interventions are culturally attuned and community-led. However, the Singapore office is expected to serve as a model for this more decentralised, collaborative approach, helping the foundation evolve in both form and philosophy as it enters its final two decades. Why Asia, and why Singapore? The decision to launch an Asia hub in Singapore is both strategic and symbolic. As the first Gates Foundation office in Southeast Asia, the new hub in Singapore gives the foundation access to both philanthropists and to beneficiaries around the region. Furthermore, Singapore is positioned as a regional centre for biomedical innovations, and will also offer access to leading research institutions, international NGOs, and government health agencies. Bill Gates announced the news during a plenary discussion earlier this month with President Tharman Shanmugaratnam at the Philanthropy Asia Summit 2025, saying, 'The Gates Foundation is putting an office here in Singapore to access the science, to partner with the philanthropic community; to partner with philanthropists; to partner with the research being done here.' The new office is expected to play a critical role in forging deeper partnerships with Asian governments, catalysing local philanthropy and co-developing region-specific solutions to pressing health and development challenges. From supporting maternal health and infectious disease control to improving supply chains for vaccines and medical tools, the Singapore base will be pivotal to the foundation's ability to tailor interventions for Southeast Asia's diverse contexts. It also signals a growing intent to engage with the region not just as a recipient of aid—but as a vital collaborator. Vision 2045: Urgency before sunset Time is now a key driver of the foundation's ambition. With the clock ticking toward its self-imposed 2045 sunset, the Gates Foundation has set out clear priorities in its last twenty years end preventable deaths of mothers, children, and babies, halving the global under-five mortality rate, which currently hovers around five million annually. Second, it seeks to eliminate deadly infectious diseases, including the near-term eradication of polio and Guinea worm, while driving long-term efforts against malaria, measles, HIV, and tuberculosis. Finally, the foundation hopes to lift millions out of poverty through interventions in health, education, and agriculture. To meet these goals, the foundation is investing in cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence while strengthening its on-the-ground presence through new regional hubs like Singapore. The Gates Foundation's expansion into Singapore marks not just a geographic pivot, but a philosophical one. It reflects a broader commitment to proximity, partnership, and urgency at a time when global health systems are under pressure from climate change, economic inequality and pandemic threats. With more than US$200 billion set to be deployed by 2045, the foundation's legacy will be measured not just in money spent, but in the institutions it strengthens, the innovations it seeds, and the lives it helps transform. Whether it can deliver on such lofty goals within a compressed timeline remains to be seen, but with Asia now a central focus, the foundation is making a clear bet: that the next breakthroughs in global health may well begin here. Credits This article was created with the assistance of AI tools
Business Mayor
09-05-2025
- Business
- Business Mayor
Bill Gates doubles giving to $200 billion, says philanthropists can't cover government cuts
Bill Gates arrives for a press conference to launch the Global Polio Eradication Initiative at the European Commission's Berlaymont headquarters in Brussels on October 11, 2023. Simon Wohlfahrt | Afp | Getty Images Billionaire Bill Gates announced on Thursday that he will double his charitable giving to $200 billion over the next 20 years. In a blog post, the Microsoft co-founder wrote that he was motivated by the many challenges facing the world, such as children's health and climate change, as well as the late Andrew Carnegie's admonishment of wealth hoarding. 'People will say a lot of things about me when I die, but I am determined that 'he died rich' will not be one of them,' Gates wrote. 'There are too many urgent problems to solve for me to hold onto resources that could be used to help people.' Gates is currently the world's fifth richest person with a $168 billion fortune, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The $200 billion commitment assumes his charitable foundation's endowment will grow through investments. The Gates Foundation, founded by Gates and his ex-wife, Melinda French Gates, in 2000, has already given away more than $100 billion. After Bill Gates has given away 'virtually all' of his wealth, the foundation will close at the end of 2045, he said. Gates is one of few billionaires to publicly step up their charitable giving as nonprofits and universities reel from federal funding cuts. Despite his increase in giving, he said philanthropists cannot cover the multibillion-dollar foreign aid cuts by the U.S. and other wealthy countries. Read More Put your knowledge of 2023 to the test in our City Christmas quiz 'The United States, United Kingdom, France, and other countries around the world are cutting their aid budgets by tens of billions of dollars. And no philanthropic organization—even one the size of the Gates Foundation—can make up the gulf in funding that's emerging right now,' he wrote. 'It's unclear whether the world's richest countries will continue to stand up for its poorest people.' In an interview with the Financial Times, Gates criticized Elon Musk for his role in cutting U.S. foreign aid. In February, Musk's so-called Department of Governmental Efficiency effectively shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development. The federal agency disbursed $42.5 billion in 2023, according to government data, that provided lifesaving assistance, including health care, clean water and food across the globe. 'The picture of the world's richest man killing the world's poorest children is not a pretty one,' Gates told the Financial Times. In early March, the agency estimated that the cuts would have dire consequences, including 1 million children with severe acute malnutrition going untreated and up to 166,000 additional deaths from malaria. Gates, his then-wife and Warren Buffett founded the Giving Pledge in 2010 as a commitment for the world's richest people to give away more than half their wealth in their lifetime or wills. French Gates has since stepped down from the Gates Foundation but has her own philanthropic organization. Musk has signed the Giving Pledge. Gates told the New York Times that he doesn't know whether Musk will follow through. 'The Giving Pledge — an unusual aspect of it that you can wait until you die and still fulfill it. So who knows? He could go on to be a great philanthropist,' he said before pointing to Musk's involvement in the foreign aid cuts. Musk has given away less than 1% of his wealth, according to Forbes. The publication estimates his out-the-door giving — gifts that have been paid, not just pledged or parked in a foundation — at $620 million over his lifetime through 2023. READ SOURCE
Scroll.in
21-04-2025
- Health
- Scroll.in
New polio vaccine could be a shot in the arm to eradicate disease
Aside from recent outbreaks of polio in war-torn regions of the world, the deadly virus is close to being eradicated, thanks to vaccines. All vaccines work by training our immune systems to recognise a harmless piece of a virus or bacteria so that when the real thing is encountered later, the immune system is prepared to defeat it. There are two types of polio vaccine in use. One is the inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV), and the other the live-attenuated oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV). The IPV is made by 'killing' large quantities of poliovirus with a chemical called formalin, making it unable to replicate. The immune system is then 'trained' to recognise the poliovirus – which is thankfully rendered safe by formalin. The OPV vaccine contains a weakened (or 'attenuated') version of the virus. These changes in the virus's genetic code stop it from causing disease. However, as the OPV vaccine is still capable of replicating, it can revert to a form that can cause disease, with the potential to cause paralysis in unvaccinated people. Because of these risks, scientists are now looking for safer ways to create vaccines – methods that don't require growing large amounts of the live virus in high-security labs, as is done for IPV. Our research team has taken an important step towards producing a safer and more affordable polio vaccine. This new vaccine candidate uses virus-like particles (VLPs). These particles mimic the outer protein shell of poliovirus, but are empty inside. This means there is no risk of infection, but the VLP is still recognised by the immune system, which then protects against the disease. This vaccine candidate uses technology that's already being used in hepatitis B and human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines. Thanks to VLPs, since 2008, there have been no cervical cancer cases in women in Scotland who were fully vaccinated against HPV. Over the past 10 years, our research group has worked to apply this successful technology in the fight to eradicate polio. Vaccine success Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, polio was a major global childhood health concern. However, the development of IPV (licensed in 1955) and of OPV (licensed in 1963), almost eliminated polio-derived paralysis. Due to the success of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, introduced in 1988, most cases of paralytic polio are now caused by the vaccine. Despite the success of these vaccines, they both have safety concerns that could threaten to compromise eradication of the disease. IPV, for instance, is expensive to make because it needs stringent safety measures to prevent the accidental release of live poliovirus and so is mostly used in wealthy countries. OPV is five times cheaper than IPV, and due to its lower cost and ease of use, it is used almost exclusively in developing countries. OPV has been instrumental in the near eradication of 'wild polioviruses' (the naturally occurring form) around the world. But in areas where vaccination rates are low and enough people are susceptible to infection, the weakened virus (OPV) can replicate. Unfortunately, each round of replication increases the potential for the virus to revert to a form of polio that causes illness and paralysis. This is already evident in new vaccine-derived outbreaks across several countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, which now accounts for most paralytic polio cases worldwide. So, once all remaining strains of wild poliovirus have been successfully eradicated, OPV use will have to stop. Play Safer vaccine The next generation of polio vaccinations is likely to be produced in yeast or insect cells. Our research shows that VLPs produced in both yeast and insect cells can perform equally or better than the current IPV. These non-infectious VLPs are also easier to produce than IPVs. They would not need to be handled under such stringent laboratory conditions as IPVs, and they are more temperature stable, thanks to genetic alteration of the outer shell. The new vaccines, then, will be less expensive to produce than IPVs, helping to improve fair and equal access to vaccination – ensuring that once polio is eradicated, it will stay eradicated. As we move closer to wiping out polio worldwide, these next-generation vaccines could be the final tool we need – safe, affordable and accessible to all.
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
To eradicate polio once and for all, we need a new vaccine – that's what we're working on
Aside from recent outbreaks of polio in war-torn regions of the world, the deadly virus is close to being eradicated, thanks to vaccines. All vaccines work by training our immune systems to recognise a harmless piece of a virus or bacteria so that when the real thing is encountered later, the immune system is prepared to defeat it. There are two types of polio vaccine in use. One is the inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV), and the other the live-attenuated oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV). The IPV is made by 'killing' large quantities of poliovirus with a chemical called formalin, making it unable to replicate. The immune system is then 'trained' to recognise the poliovirus – which is thankfully rendered safe by formalin. Get your news from actual experts, direct to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK's latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences. Join The Conversation for free today. The OPV vaccine contains a weakened (or 'attenuated') version of the virus. These changes in the virus's genetic code stop it from causing disease. However, as the OPV vaccine is still capable of replicating, it can revert to a form that can cause disease, with the potential to cause paralysis in unvaccinated people. Because of these risks, scientists are now looking for safer ways to create vaccines – methods that don't require growing large amounts of the live virus in high-security labs, as is done for IPV. Our research team has taken an important step towards producing a safer and more affordable polio vaccine. This new vaccine candidate uses virus-like particles (VLPs). These particles mimic the outer protein shell of poliovirus, but are empty inside. This means there is no risk of infection, but the VLP is still recognised by the immune system, which then protects against the disease. This vaccine candidate uses technology that's already being used in hepatitis B and human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines. Thanks to VLPs, since 2008, there have been no cervical cancer cases in women in Scotland who were fully vaccinated against HPV. Over the past ten years, our research group has worked to apply this successful technology in the fight to eradicate polio. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, polio was a major global childhood health concern. However, the development of IPV (licensed in 1955) and of OPV (licensed in 1963), almost eliminated polio-derived paralysis. Due to the success of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, introduced in 1988, most cases of paralytic polio are now caused by the vaccine. Despite the success of these vaccines, they both have safety concerns that could threaten to compromise eradication of the disease. IPV, for instance, is expensive to make because it needs stringent safety measures to prevent the accidental release of live poliovirus and so is mostly used in wealthy countries. OPV is five times cheaper than IPV, and due to its lower cost and ease of use, it is used almost exclusively in developing countries. OPV has been instrumental in the near eradication of 'wild polioviruses' (the naturally occurring form) around the world. But in areas where vaccination rates are low and enough people are susceptible to infection, the weakened virus (OPV) can replicate. Unfortunately, each round of replication increases the potential for the virus to revert to a form of polio that causes illness and paralysis. This is already evident in new vaccine-derived outbreaks across several countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, which now accounts for most paralytic polio cases worldwide. So, once all remaining strains of wild poliovirus have been successfully eradicated, OPV use will have to stop. The next generation of polio vaccinations is likely to be produced in yeast or insect cells. Our research shows that VLPs produced in both yeast and insect cells can perform equally or better than the current IPV. These non-infectious VLPs are also easier to produce than IPVs. They would not need to be handled under such stringent laboratory conditions as IPVs, and they are more temperature stable, thanks to genetic alteration of the outer shell. The new vaccines, then, will be less expensive to produce than IPVs, helping to improve fair and equal access to vaccination – ensuring that once polio is eradicated, it will stay eradicated. As we move closer to wiping out polio worldwide, these next-generation vaccines could be the final tool we need – safe, affordable and accessible to all. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Lee Sherry worked as a post-doc on a WHO-funded research grant for the production of poliovirus virus-like particles Nicola Stonehouse is a member of the WHO VLP vaccine Consortium and receives funding from The World Health Organisation - Generation of virus-free polio vaccine.
