polio by the target year 2000, no child will have to be immunized against polio ever again. The United States currently spends approximately $230 million annually to immunize its newborns against polio, a disease no longer occurring naturally anywhere in the Western hemisphere. This cost is expected to rise significantly as the U.S. switches from an immunization program using inexpensive oral polio vaccine (OPV Sabin vaccine) to one based on the higher-priced inactivated polio vaccine (IPV - Salk vaccine). Globally, over $1.5 billion is spent annually to immunize children against polio. This figure does not even include the cost of treatment and rehabilitation of polio cases, nor the immeasurable toll in human suffering which polio exacts from its victims and their families. ERADICATING POLIO IS HELPING TO DEVELOP THE INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDED TO FIGHT OTHER DISEASES By investing in polio eradication, we will help countries not only to effectively eradicate polio, but also to develop public health and disease surveillance systems necessary to help us to control the spread of other infectious diseases. The benefits of strengthening the disease surveillance system are broad-based. Already, much of Latin America is free of measles, due in part to improvements in the public health infrastructure implemented during the war on polio. RESOURCES NEEDED TO FINISH THE JOB OF GLOBAL POLIO ERADICATION Rotary International has committed itself to making the eradication of polio our highest priority until the disease is certified as eradicated. We will use every avenue of our service, our financial and human resources, to work with our partners to help eradicate polio. This public-private initiative has already demonstrated how effective this partnership can be. Together, we are confident that this disease can be eradicated. But we need your help. Although most of the cost of polio eradication efforts is carried by the governments of polio endemic countries themselves, the World Health Organization estimates that $120 million per year for the next five years is needed to implement the eradication strategy. The United States currently supports international immunization programs through UNICEF, the World Bank, as well as the Agency for International Development. We believe that targeted polio eradication efforts will achieve the goal of a polio-free world and a foundation for immunizing and controlling other diseases. Toward this effort we request that you direct AID to provide $25 million for fiscal year 1997 for a targeted program for global polio eradication, specifically to support the delivery of oral polio vaccine (OPV) in National Immunization Days. An increased U.S. contribution of this magnitude will fill the vital needs and leverage support from other nations. The campaign to eradicate polio worldwide for FY 1997 will be focused on the following activities and objectives: Conduct National Immunization Days in 45 African countries. Initiate training and subsequent surveillance for polio in an additional 30 countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. Expand polio eradication activities in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and other South Expand the number of Middle Eastern countries conducting National Immunization Days to include Yemen, Sudan, and Somalia. Initiate surveillance in 15 additional countries. Expand the polio laboratory network and provide basic supplies and equipment to ensure that these labs are able to correctly identify polio. America's children will not be safe from polio anywhere until polio has been eradicated everywhere. Polio eradication is an investment, but one that is not only risk-fee but also guarantees an immense return. The United States will "break even" on its investment in polio eradication within only two years after the virus has been vanquished. And the financial and humanitarian benefits of polio eradication will accrue forever. This will be our gift to the future children of the world. Thank you for this opportunity to testify. |