Australia's Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, Mr Pablo Kang, reaffirmed Australia's support for polio eradication today in Abu Dhabi. Ambassador Kang was joined by the 2013 Young Australian of the Year, Mr Akram Azimi, and Dr Chris Elias, President for Global Health and Development at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation at an event in the lead up to the opening tonight of the Global Vaccine Summit in Abu Dhabi.
On behalf of the Australian Government, Ambassador Kang commended the initiative of His Highness General Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi in convening and hosting the Global Vaccine Summit on 24 and 25 April in Abu Dhabi, in partnership with Mr Bill Gates, Co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon.
Australia welcomes the summit as an opportunity to highlight the positive impact of vaccination on child survival and to promote routine immunisation. The summit will "celebrate the tremendous progress that has been made globally since the launch of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988. From 1988 to 2012, there has been a 99.9 per cent reduction in the number of polio cases globally (from 350,000 in 1988 to 223 in 2012). The eradication of polio in India in 2011 was a major milestone, however the job is not yet done with polio still endemic in Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan," said Ambassador Kang.
A new Polio Eradication and Endgame Strategic Plan 2013–2018 will be launched at the summit. Australia is pleased to see the focus in the Endgame Strategic Plan on linking polio to the strengthening of routine immunisation. "In Australia and around the world it has been the introduction of routine mass immunisation which has saved millions of lives," said Ambassador Kang.
Australia has a proud history of support for polio eradication. Ambassador Kang recalled that it was Australia's Sir Clem Renouf who, as President of Rotary International in 1978 and 1979, led the international campaign to vaccinate every child against polio. It was as a result of these early efforts by Rotary that the global community came together in 1988 to launch the Global Polio Eradication Initiative–a highly effective partnership between national governments and the World Health Organization, UNICEF, Rotary International and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Red Cross. "Our Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, has paid tribute to Sir Clem as the 'father' of global polio eradication," said Ambassador Kang.
Most recently, Australia has demonstrated its commitment to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative through Prime Minister Gillard's announcement of a $50 million contribution at the 2011 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Australia. As a result of the Prime Minister's leadership, Australia was joined at CHOGM by Mr Bill Gates and the leaders of Canada, Nigeria, Pakistan and the United Kingdom in pledging over $100 million in additional funding support for global polio eradication. Australia's leadership also galvanized political commitment to polio in the remaining polio-endemic countries.
Australia's $50 million commitment extends to 2015 and is supporting the final push to eradicate polio. The funds are being used to purchase and distribute polio vaccines; support polio surveillance and monitoring; fund supplementary immunisation campaigns and outbreak responses; and strengthen routine immunisation systems.