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Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5jvpLtSWhric3Iehd-m7Dkg1Pk_aw
Nigeria: Former Microsoft chief Bill Gates applauds anti-polio work, but warns more needed
By Jon Gambrell (CP) ? 1 hour ago
ABUJA, Nigeria ? Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates praised Muslim leaders from Nigeria's north Monday for convincing skeptical parents to allow their children to receive polio vaccinations, an effort that cut new infections from hundreds to only three this year.
Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, had 288 new polio infections at this time last year during an outbreak that saw the disease threaten a belt of sub-Saharan nations. Gates said an effort by Muslim clerics and traditional leaders in the north who oversaw polio vaccine distribution helped cut into the fears many had about the vaccines.
Previously, some northern religious leaders spread rumours that the vaccine would sterilize children or infect them with AIDS. Now, Gates said leaders convened meetings where the polio victims who populate Nigeria's streets begging for money warned parents not to let the same fate befall their children.
"There's no more vivid demonstration of why we're so serious about polio vaccination than seeing these" polio victims, Gates told reporters at a news conference in the Nigerian capital of Abuja. "Traditional leaders are engaged and are a totally positive factor in this."
However, Gates warned that easing up on the eradication efforts now could allow the disease to again spike in Nigeria, an oil-rich country of 150 million where most struggle to find clean water and sanitary living conditions. The billionaire's Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has spent $120 million on anti-polio efforts in the country already.
Gates said he met with President Goodluck Jonathan and Nigerian state governors, all of whom pledged full support to the effort. But he acknowledged that the global recession cut deeply into what governments and individuals would be willing to give to such philanthropic efforts.
"We're going to the rich world donors at a time when their budgets are tight," he said. "I feel quite sure we'll be able to fund this fight, but that's not an easy thing. Money is very tight..."
Nigeria: Former Microsoft chief Bill Gates applauds anti-polio work, but warns more needed
By Jon Gambrell (CP) ? 1 hour ago
ABUJA, Nigeria ? Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates praised Muslim leaders from Nigeria's north Monday for convincing skeptical parents to allow their children to receive polio vaccinations, an effort that cut new infections from hundreds to only three this year.
Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, had 288 new polio infections at this time last year during an outbreak that saw the disease threaten a belt of sub-Saharan nations. Gates said an effort by Muslim clerics and traditional leaders in the north who oversaw polio vaccine distribution helped cut into the fears many had about the vaccines.
Previously, some northern religious leaders spread rumours that the vaccine would sterilize children or infect them with AIDS. Now, Gates said leaders convened meetings where the polio victims who populate Nigeria's streets begging for money warned parents not to let the same fate befall their children.
"There's no more vivid demonstration of why we're so serious about polio vaccination than seeing these" polio victims, Gates told reporters at a news conference in the Nigerian capital of Abuja. "Traditional leaders are engaged and are a totally positive factor in this."
However, Gates warned that easing up on the eradication efforts now could allow the disease to again spike in Nigeria, an oil-rich country of 150 million where most struggle to find clean water and sanitary living conditions. The billionaire's Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has spent $120 million on anti-polio efforts in the country already.
Gates said he met with President Goodluck Jonathan and Nigerian state governors, all of whom pledged full support to the effort. But he acknowledged that the global recession cut deeply into what governments and individuals would be willing to give to such philanthropic efforts.
"We're going to the rich world donors at a time when their budgets are tight," he said. "I feel quite sure we'll be able to fund this fight, but that's not an easy thing. Money is very tight..."