US actions may set polio eradication back: WHO

LONDON, March 3 (Reuters): The eradication of polio as a global health threat may be delayed unless U.S. funding cuts - potentially totaling hundreds of millions of dollars over several years - are reversed, a senior World Health Organization official has warned.

The WHO works with groups such as UNICEF and the Gates Foundation to end polio. The planned withdrawal of the United States from WHO has impacted efforts, including stopping collaboration with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Last week, UNICEF's polio grant was terminated as the State Department cut 90% of USAID's grants worldwide to align aid with President Donald Trump's 'America First' policy. In total, the partnership is missing $133 million from the U.S. that was expected this year, said Hamid Jafari, director of the polio eradication programme for the WHO's Eastern Mediterranean region.