The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), a coalition including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Gates Foundation, will face a 30 percent budget reduction in 2026 and a $1.7bn funding gap through 2029, threatening efforts to eradicate polio.

“The significant reductions in funding … mean that certain activities will simply not happen,” said Jamal Ahmed, the WHO’s director of polio eradication, at a news conference on Tuesday.

Officials said that the shortfall is largely driven by reduced foreign aid, particularly from the United States, which has stepped back from the WHO since President Donald Trump returned to office.

Other major donors, including Germany and the United Kingdom, have similarly reduced contributions.

“Eradication remains feasible and is doable,” Ahmed

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