Rotary commits $300m to eradicate polio in Nigeria
Mark Maloney, Chair of the Rotary International Foundation has said since initiating its global immunization efforts, Rotary International has invested over $300 million in Nigeria to combat polio. He spoke on Thursday in Abuja at the Jahi Primary Health Center, alongside his wife, Gay and other Rotary officials, after administering immunizations and presenting souvenirs to […]
rotary international foundation
Mark Maloney, Chair of the Rotary International Foundation has said since initiating its global immunization efforts, Rotary International has invested over $300 million in Nigeria to combat polio.
He spoke on Thursday in Abuja at the Jahi Primary Health Center, alongside his wife, Gay and other Rotary officials, after administering immunizations and presenting souvenirs to children.
Maloney, the first Chair of the Rotary Foundation to visit Nigeria to assess the organization’s ongoing efforts, also expressed his admiration for the impact of Rotary International’s maternal and child health intervention through a $2 million Program of Scale grant to Nigeria
He reaffirmed Rotary International’s unwavering commitment to eradicating polio in Nigeria and assured that the country is well-positioned to receive further grants from the organization.
“Rotary can only do so much as a private organization. We encourage the Nigerian government to redouble its efforts to eliminate variant polio completely, freeing its health programs to tackle other pressing issues,” he said.
While explaining that the exact allocation for 2025 remains undecided, Maloney estimated a significant tranche of funding could be approved during upcoming meetings, despite the pressing needs in countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan where wild polio remains endemic.
“There’s $50 million that I expect will be allocated at that meeting, but a lot of it has to go to Pakistan and Afghanistan where the wild poliovirus is still endemic, but I think there will be a significant tranche of funds, maybe not tens of millions, I don’t think it will be that big, but a significant amount of money allocated to Nigeria,” he said.