Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI)

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative is a public–private partnership working to eradicate polio worldwide through vaccination campaigns and surveillance. - Facing major funding gap and 30% budget cut due to donor pullbacks

In December 2025, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) cut its 2026 humanitarian appeal to roughly $33 billion, down from $47 billion requested for 2025, after governments provided only about $15 billion in 2025 – the lowest level of support in a decade. Just three weeks later, however, the United States pledged a landmark $2 billion to OCHA-managed funds, providing roughly two-thirds of the funding needed to reach 87 million people in the most catastrophic need. The new plan concentrates resources on the worst emergencies, including over $4.1 billion for Palestinian areas, $2.9 billion for Sudan, and $2.8 billion for the regional Syria response. In early February 2026, the World Health Organization launched a separate $1 billion appeal for 36 health emergencies – down one-third from the prior year – after reaching only one-third of its 2025 targets due to collapsed funding.

Updated Feb 4

A public–private partnership launched in 1988 after the World Health Assembly resolved to eradicate poliomyelitis, coordinating global surveillance, vaccination campaigns and technical strategy. - Lead technical and operational platform for polio eradication; facing significant funding shortfalls

Global donors used a pledging event in Abu Dhabi on 8 December 2025 to commit US$1.9 billion to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), temporarily stabilizing a flagship global health campaign that is facing a 30% budget cut in 2026 and a multi‑year funding gap. The largest pledges — US$1.2 billion from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and US$450 million from Rotary International — narrow the shortfall in GPEI’s 2022–2029 strategy to roughly US$440 million but do not fully close it. The event comes as wild poliovirus transmission has resurged in Afghanistan and Pakistan and vaccine‑derived polio continues to spark outbreaks in under‑immunized communities worldwide.

Updated Dec 11, 2025