Qatar Charity, Gates Foundation Join Forces to Eradicate Polio

Doha, April 23 (QNA) - Qatar Charity and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have on Tuesday signed here a joint cooperation agreement aimed at reaching the goal of eradicating the disease of polio. Signed by Gates Foundation's Co-chair Bill Gates and Qatar Charity CEO Yusuf Bin Ahmed Al-Kuwari, the agreement comes on the eve of the Global Vaccine Summit in Abu Dhabi during the World Immunization Week 2013 (April 24-30). Under the agreement, Qatar Charity will launch a fundraising campaign to support them new comprehensive six-year Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) in order to fully eradicate polio by 2018. Qatar Charity will also collect donations to support vaccination campaigns against polio in target areas and help raise the awareness of the necessity to completely dispose of the disease in Pakistan. For its part, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will pay an amount of money similar to what QC collected during the campaign. Polio, which may lead to paralysis or death, can be prevented through vaccination. Currently, the disease is spread in three countries only, namely: Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nigeria, dropping from 125 countries in 1988. In response to that development, GPEI has formulated a long-term strategy to completely eradicate the disease by 2018. (QNA)