A massive $1.7 billion funding shortfall is threatening to unravel decades of progress against polio, global health leaders warned Tuesday, raising the alarming prospect that the paralyzing disease could resurge and spread across borders.
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), the public-private partnership leading the charge, faces a 30% budget cut next year. The coalition, which includes the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Gates Foundation, said the financial gap through 2029 means critical vaccination and surveillance programs will be scaled back just as the virus is at its weakest.
“The significant reductions in funding … mean that certain activities will simply not happen,” said Dr. Jamal Ahmed, the WHO’s director of polio eradication, in a sobering news conference. “Eradication remains feasible and is doable. We need everybody to remain committed and ensure that no child is left behind.”
Officials pinpointed a global retreat in foreign aid as the primary driver of the crisis. They cited reduced contributions from key donors, including Germany and the United Kingdom, but highlighted a particularly sharp pullback from the United States following the return of President Donald Trump, who has previously been critical of the WHO.
The financial crunch forces a strategic shift. The GPEI will now concentrate its dwindling resources on high-risk areas, leaving lower-risk regions vulnerable unless an outbreak occurs. The initiative will also work more closely with other health campaigns, like those for measles, to maximize reach and efficiency.
A key tactic to stretch vaccine supplies will be the expanded use of “fractional dosing,” an approach that uses as little as one-fifth of a standard vaccine dose while still providing protection against infection.
The warning comes at a critical juncture. The global fight to eradicate polio, once a dreaded disease that paralyzed thousands of children annually, began in 1988. While mass vaccination has slashed cases by over 99%, the finish line has remained elusive, with an initial target of 2000 missed long ago.
So far in 2025, there have been 36 reported cases of wild poliovirus, confined to Afghanistan and Pakistan, the last two countries where the virus remains endemic. These nations will remain a top priority under the new, constrained plan.
However, a parallel challenge comes from vaccine-derived polio, which has caused 149 cases this year in countries including Nigeria. This rare form of the virus can emerge in under-immunized communities when the weakened virus from the oral vaccine circulates and regains strength. Despite this risk, health officials universally stress that high vaccination coverage is the only way to stop all forms of the virus for good.
There is a glimmer of hope: cases of both wild and vaccine-derived polio have declined since 2024, proving that the current strategies work when properly funded. The fear now, officials said, is that pulling back the throttle will allow the virus to roar back, undoing years of work and investment.
“We are on the cusp of one of humanity’s greatest public health achievements,” Ahmed said. “To falter now due to a lack of funds would be a tragic failure for future generations.”
