David Cameron, Bill Gates to donate $160 million for polio eradication

British Prime Minister David Cameron and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have together announced on Friday, to make a $160 million donation towards the Global Polio Eradication campaign.

David Cameron, Bill Gates and Melinda Gates made the announcement on the 3rd day of the World Economic Forum annual meeting, being held in Davos, Switzerland.

Earlier, a $30 million commitment had been made by Britain, but it has doubled the amount that will help in vaccinating an additional 45 million children against the disorder, which mostly affects children of the developing and poorer countries of the world.

Cameron insisted that a "good policy must follow good money so that re-vaccination must become routine under this new funding regime. For each pound Britain puts in, it wants to see five pounds leveraged from other donors.”

One of the world’s richest men, Bill Gates has been supporting the cause for many years now and the audience cheered the trio for their contribution in wiping out polio.

Cameron said, “Vaccines are one of the easiest things to sell to a sceptical public. Citizens can see how vaccines can deliver results to targeted people, in a targeted time-frame for a fixed cost. I passionately believe that we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to rid the world of the evil of polio."

Cameron urges world leaders to come forward
Stating that there it was never the wrong time to do the right thing, the British premier urged the global leaders to help in nipping the evil called polio, by giving funds and making sure that every kid is given the anti-polio vaccine.

“There is an incredible opportunity to wipe out the last 1% of polio, saving lives now and preventing the threat of outbreaks in the future. Eradicating polio requires innovative thinking and political will, as well as additional funding to support an aggressive program that will get the job done,” said Bill Gates.