Global Foundations’ Efforts to Eradicate Polio in Afghanistan
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has announced the launch of a program aimed at eradicating polio and strengthening Afghanistan’s primary health system.
Chris Elias, Director of Global Development at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said in an interview with an Arab media outlet that the program will be launched in early 2025 and that the Gates Foundation, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia will provide part of the financial resources needed for Afghanistan’s primary health system through the Afghanistan Reconstruction Fund.
Chris Elias said in this regard: “The Gates Foundation, the governments of Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia will provide financial assistance through the Afghanistan Reconstruction Fund to support the primary health care system in Afghanistan.”
Mujtaba Sofi, a physician, told: “Foreign countries that help Afghanistan and various institutions must manage this money properly and accurately and spend it properly in areas where it is really needed. We should not look at who has the light, we should use its light.”
At the same time, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has reported that 14.3 million people in Afghanistan need health services this year, and more than $279 million is needed to provide them.
OCHA said: “Estimates show that in 2025, 14.3 million people will need health services, of which 23.2 percent are women, 53 percent are children, and 9.9 percent are disabled, and $279.7 million is needed for this.”
Sayed Abdullah Ahmadi, another doctor, said: “The Ministry of Public Health needs to develop its health service delivery system and develop effective plans for the delivery of health services, because in most cases, external aid and the provision of health services are not distributed evenly throughout Afghanistan.”
In 2024, the Ministry of Health did not confirm any positive polio cases in the country. On the other hand, the World Health Organization reported that 25 positive cases were recorded in Afghanistan this year.
