Thank you for contacting me about UK funding for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI).
I appreciate your concern for polio eradication, and applaud the tireless campaigning and generous fundraising by Rotarians on behalf of the GPEI.
The UK has been one of the top donors to the GPEI for over 25 years now, during which time polio cases have reduced by more than 99 per cent and the African continent has been declared free from wild polio. I am proud that the UK has contributed so handsomely to this achievement. In the last financial year, the UK provided £70 million of funding to the GPEI, which will continue this important work.
I appreciate your concerns about UK funding to the GPEI in 2021 in light of the (temporary) cut to the UK's overall Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget this year. Ultimately, the pandemic has forced Government to take tough decisions. That said, I am reassured that the UK will still be spending £10 billion on ODA in 2021, and will remain one of the most generous donors in the world – way above the OECD-DAC average. Furthermore, by the fact that global health is one of seven ODA priorities for the UK this year, on which approximately £1.3 billion will be spent.