The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation set up by Microsoft co-founder, Bill Gates has announced a $450 million fund to support polio eradication efforts by Rotary International in three countries, including Nigeria.

Rotary President John Germ and Bill Gates, who is co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced the commitment of up to $450 million to support the eradication of polio in Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan to an audience of nearly 40,000 Rotary members attending the humanitarian organisation’s annual convention in Atlanta, USA.

Rotary and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation said they renewed their longstanding support for ending polio – a paralyzing, life-altering scourge on the verge of becoming the second human disease ever to be eliminated.

Under the plan, Rotary committed to raise $50 million per year over the next three years, with every dollar to be matched with two additional dollars from the Gates Foundation. This expanded agreement will translate into $450 million for polio eradication activities, including immunization and surveillance over the next three years.

This critical funding helps ensure countries around the world remain polio-free and that polio is ended in the remaining three endemic countries: Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan.

Rotary and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation said they renewed their longstanding support for ending polio – a paralyzing, life-altering scourge on the verge of becoming the second human disease ever to be eliminated.

“In 2016, fewer children were paralyzed by polio than ever before, thanks to the dedication of Rotary members and our partners,” said Germ. “The paralysis of even one child by a preventable disease is unacceptable, and I’m proud to see our members redoubling their commitment to ensure we reach every single child with the polio vaccine.”

In a partnership spanning a decade, Rotary and the Gates Foundation, along with the other Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) partners, have led the effort to end polio worldwide. This funding extension reaffirms a commitment established at the 2013 Rotary Convention in Lisbon, Portugal, when the Gates Foundation pledged to match Rotary contributions two-to-one, up to $35 million per year through 2018, the organisations say. Rotary, including matching funds from the Gates Foundation, has donated more than $1.6 billion to polio eradication.

“The vision of eradicating polio began with Rotary, and its support of that effort has been unwavering for more than 35 years,” Gates adds. “Rotary’s commitment to raise $150 million over the next three years to end polio forever is a testament to the compassion, generosity, and kindness of more than a million Rotarians around the world.”

Today’s announcement comes on the heels of the news that world governments and other donors have pledged to contribute US$1.2 billion total to the GPEI for polio eradication efforts. The government funding—also announced today at the Rotary Convention—will substantially help to close the US$1.5 billion funding gap, allowing partners to immunize 450 million children every year and support rigorous disease surveillance in both endemic and at-risk polio-free countries. While the government funding announced today makes considerable headway in the fight to end polio, continued support from donors remains vital to achieve a polio-free world.

The global eradication of polio has been Rotary’s top priority since 1985. Through the Global Polio Eradication Initiative – a public-private partnership that includes Rotary, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, and UNICEF – the incidence of polio has plummeted by more than 99.9 percent, from about 350,000 cases a year at the start of the initiative to just 37 cases in 2016.