Health groups put $200M toward polio eradication effort
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17/06/2008
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USA Today (US)
There were 1,313 cases of polio last year. So far this year, there have been 558 cases. Here is a list of countries that have reported polio this year: India: 258 Nigeria: 247 Angola: 12 Pakistan: 11 Niger: 9 Afghanistan: 8 Chad: 4 Nepal: 3 Democratic Republic of the Congo: 2 Benin: 1 Central African Republic: 1 Ethiopia: 1 Sudan: 1 Note: As of June 10 Source: Global Polio Eradication Initiative Yahoo! Buzz Digg Newsvine Reddit FacebookWhat's this?By Steve Sternberg, USA TODAY A coalition of major health organizations, including the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Rotary International, launched a final effort Tuesday to rid the world of polio, a crippling and deadly disease that mainly afflicts children under 5. At its convention in Los Angeles, Rotary International announced a $100 million challenge to raise money for the effort. The money will match, dollar for dollar, a $100 million grant from the Gates Foundation for a total of $200 million over the next three years. Since 1985, when Rotary adopted polio eradication as its top philanthropic goal, cases have declined by 99%, but the disease lingers with a new outbreak recently reported in Nigeria. Rotary also has set up a website to accept donations from individuals.