Anita Zaidi, president of the Gates Foundation's gender equality division, expressed excitement about expanding the partnership with Saudi Arabia.

This is the largest contribution ever made by a sovereign country to the polio eradication program, totaling $100 million.

The funds will support the Lives and Livelihoods Fund, the largest multilateral development initiative in the Middle East.

The text describes a fund aimed at reducing poverty in 33 Islamic Development Bank member countries.

The investments will focus on healthcare, eliminating preventable diseases, smallholder farming, and infrastructure.

Additionally, $8 million in relief grants have been allocated for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, with $4 million going through UNICEF for health interventions and water/sanitation services.

Saudi Arabia has also pledged $500 million over five years to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative to provide health services and polio vaccines to underserved populations.

The IsDB, with support from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Gates Foundation, the UAE, and Qatar, is administering the Polio Legacy Challenge to continue efforts towards polio eradication in the Eastern Mediterranean region.

The Gates Foundation will establish a regional office in Riyadh to support youth engagement and third sector effectiveness.

Saudi Arabia and the Gates Foundation have been planning this partnership for several months, and they announced it at the WEF meeting outside Davos due to the urgency of the cause.

The total commitment over three years is $18 million.

Saudi Arabia has made the largest multi-year pledge by a sovereign donor to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), ensuring essential health services for hundreds of millions of children annually.

This announcement comes during the IsDB's 50th anniversary week.

With Africa being polio-free in 2020, only Pakistan and Afghanistan remain endemic.

Saudi Arabia's engagement with these countries is crucial for deeper partnerships and polio eradication.

Middle Eastern countries, including Saudi Arabia, have seen a significant decrease in polio cases, from over 300 in 2014 to 12 in 2023.

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) requires continued resources to eliminate polio and achieve a polio-free world.

Women make up 70% of the global health workforce, but there is a lack of women in senior roles.

The GPEI is making efforts to include more women's voices and perspectives, as shown in Pakistan where frontline health workers were surveyed to understand their challenges and ideas for improving polio vaccination efforts.

The text discusses the focus of a foundation on women's health issues, specifically the stagnant maternal mortality rates leading to 200,000 annual deaths from childbirth.

A McKinsey report funded by the foundation highlighted the economic cost of poor women's health.

The foundation emphasizes the need for investing in frontline health workers and new innovations, such as postpartum blood loss measurement, an annual iron IV injection for anemia, and AI-assisted ultrasounds, to reduce pregnancy and delivery deaths.

Zaidi emphasized the importance of the World Economic Forum (WEF) as a platform for discussing the intersection of global health with other sectors and industries.

She highlighted the launch of the Global Health Alliance, an initiative aimed at addressing women's health issues through collaboration between various thinkers and experts.