Around the world, polio is still a growing conern. Now, a vaccine campaign funded by millions of dollars is aimed at ending the debilitating disease in the next five years.
The global effort to eradicate polio, which began more than two decades ago and has suffered repeated setbacks, will receive an additional $635 million in an effort to finish the job.
The money will be used to intensify vaccination campaigns in northern India and northern Nigeria, the two regions that account for more than 80 percent of the remaining cases of the paralyzing infection. In addition to those two countries, Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only others where "wild" polio virus still circulates.
The funding comes from several sources, including Rotary International, the service organization that first proposed the eradication of polio and has raised $825 million toward the goal; the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; and the governments of Germany and Britain.
Source: WashingtonPost.com, $635 Million Is Donated to Fight Polio