Meeting in Japan this month, leaders of the G7 urged for global support to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI). In their official Communiqué issued at their Summit, G7 Health Ministers “recognize the value-added contribution of the global polio eradication infrastructure and workforce towards global surveillance capacity, national pandemic preparedness and response capacity, and the wider global health architecture. We call for continued support to the GPEI to fully leverage this vital resource for public health emergencies and to stay on track for polio eradication by 2026.”

This call was subsequently echoed by the G7 Leaders, following the group’s Summit, who called for “continued support to the GPEI to stay on track for polio eradication by 2026.”

The G7 forum and leaders have a long history of supporting the global effort to eradicate polio, and this reiterated support is further testimony to their commitment to the GPEI.  These latest commitments come ahead of this week’s World Health Assembly (WHA), where global health leaders from around the world are convening at the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland, to discuss global public health issues, including polio eradication.