London, UK – 28/8/25 – The ONE Campaign has urged the UK Government to continue funding global efforts to eradicate polio, warning that a withdrawal of support could result in as many as 200,000 children being paralysed each year within the next decade.

Thanks to a global vaccination drive, the number of children paralysed by polio has dropped by 99.9% since the 1980s – a near-total eradication. 

The disease was eliminated in Europe and the United States decades ago, but in 2025 children are still being paralysed in Pakistan, Afghanistan and parts of Africa and Asia, with outbreaks re-emerging in conflict zones such as Gaza and Sudan.

And even in the UK, traces of poliovirus were detected in England’s wastewater this year, showing how fragile progress remains and that no country is safe until every country is polio-free.

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) – one of the most ambitious global health campaigns ever undertaken – now faces a funding crisis as major donors, including the UK, scale back international development budgets. 

The UK has historically played a pivotal role in driving polio to the brink of eradication, but since Keir Starmer enacted a 40% cut to the international aid budget, campaigners have warned the UK’s contribution to vital public health programmes could be in line for significant real-terms cuts.

The ONE Campaign urged the UK government to commit to investing £50 million per year in GPEI over the next two years (2025 and 2026) in support of lifesaving efforts to eradicate polio everywhere.

By comparison, £50 million is roughly equivalent to the annual amount of public money that will be spent to complete renovations of Buckingham Palace in the next two years. And according to estimates, Brits spend just over £50 million on ice cream every two weeks.*

Adrian Lovett, Executive Director for the UK, Middle East and Asia Pacific at the ONE Campaign, said:

“Polio is seen by many here in the UK as a ‘20th century disease’ – having been eliminated here long ago. And yet, in 2025 this terrible virus is still paralysing some of the world’s most vulnerable children.

“The good news is we know how to prevent it, but it will take the whole international community to deliver on its promise to end polio everywhere.

“The UK has been at the forefront of this fight for decades. Now is not the moment to retreat. With sustained investment and political will, we can eradicate polio once and for all, protecting future generations and showing what humanity can achieve when it acts together.

“No one is truly safe from polio until we are all safe. Not only is it morally right – but smart, targeted investment like this helps to build a healthier world for us all.”

Dr. Hamid Jafari, Director of Polio Eradication at WHO EMRO, added:

“Thanks to decades of global vaccination efforts, the number of children paralyzed by polio has been reduced by 99 percent. But today, children living in some of the most fragile settings on the planet are still being paralyzed and the risk of international spread remains high.

“Delivering a polio-free world, along with stronger immunization programmes and public health capacities, is the right thing to do for children and humanity, and we are thankful to the UK for their long-standing support for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. With continued commitment, innovation and investment, we can finish the job and eradicate this disease completely.”

-ENDS-

NOTES TO EDITORS

Since 1995, the UK has invested a total of £1.7 billion in fighting polio, which is the equivalent of £85 million per year. As a result, the UK government estimates more than 18 million people are currently able to walk who would otherwise have been paralysed by the virus. 

• Wild poliovirus cases have decreased by over 99% since 1988, from an estimated 350,000 cases in more than 125 endemic countries to just 99 reported cases in 2024.
  
• Of the three strains of wild poliovirus (type 1, type 2 and type 3), wild poliovirus type 2 was declared eradicated in 2015 and wild poliovirus type 3 was eradicated in 2019. As of 2025, endemic wild poliovirus type 1 remains in two countries: Pakistan and Afghanistan.
  
• Variant strains continue to circulate in several countries in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.
  
• The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) is a public-private partnership led by national governments with six core partners: the World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary International, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), UNICEF, the Gates Foundation, and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

UK aid has contributed over £1.7 billion to the GPEI since its launch.