According to a Feb. 15 story, a new investment case shows that successful polio transition in the eight priority countries of the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region will have a very high return on investment.
The story says that “Economic and social benefits totaling an estimated $289.2 billion arise from sustaining polio assets and integrating them into expanded immunization, surveillance and emergency response programs in eight countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region, the study reveals. As the present cost of this work is $7.5 billion, this means that for every dollar spent, the return on investment is nearly $39.”
Further, “WHO commissioned the Victoria Institute of Strategic Economic Studies, Australia, to conduct the study, which is the first of its kind. It covers 8 polio transition priority countries in the Region: Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Many of these countries are fragile, with challenges ranging from weak health systems and low routine vaccination coverage to political instability.”
WHO has the story.
