San Diego, January 22: The governments of Germany and United Kingdom, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Rotary International have together donated $635 million towards the efforts, which began nearly two decades ago, to wipe out polio.

The money will be used by World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF in countries like India, Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan majorly. These countries still have cases of paralyzing infection.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will donate $255 million over the next five years; Rotary International will raise $100 million over the next three years. The governments of Germany and United Kingdom will donate $130 million and $150 million respectively.

Britain is the second biggest and Germany the fifth biggest government donor for elimination of polio.

About $6.17 billion have been spent on polio elimination campaign since 1988. The first polio vaccine was created in 1950 and that vaccine has nearly eliminated the disease in the United States. and many other parts of the world.

The number of cases has cut down by 99 percent since the campaign in 1988. But some countries are still having polio cases. Last year, 1,625 cases were found, 500 cases more than in 2007 and three times more than in 2001.

But according to some experts, elimination of polio is a very difficult goal. There are three types of polio viruses and elimination of all those three viruses is necessary.

R. Bruce Aylward, a Canadian physician and epidemiologist, said, "This is an epidemic-prone disease. The idea that it can be controlled at the level where it is now is a false premise."

In 2003, Nigerian had stopped mass immunization for more than a year. The Nigerians were doubtful about vaccine safety. But vaccination efforts in Nigeria have been restarted.

Scott Barrett of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies said, "You have to get rid of this every single place on earth, all at the same time. The probability of success is never going to be 100%."

WHO will use the money for the elimination of polio in the next five years and hopes for the ‘polio free’ world in the coming years.