Budget components
There are five major components of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative budget.
In 2010 alone, more than 2.2 billion doses of vaccine were used to vaccinate children as part of polio eradication efforts. Vaccines are procured by UNICEF. The agency works to ensure that the vaccine supply is secure – with multiple suppliers – and that the price is both affordable for purchase and reasonably covers the needs of the manufacturers.
Supplementary immunization activities are vast operations to deliver vaccine to every household. Detailed maps and plans have to be updated for every dwelling in the area to be covered, vaccines have to be delivered to distribution centres, and vaccinators need to be trained to visit every household and vaccinate every child.
Surveillance budgets cover the detection and reporting of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) cases. This is done through an extensive informant network of people who first report cases, and through active searches in health facilities.
When relevant skills are not available within a national health system, staff and consultants are sent to fill the gaps. This extra support helps with immunization campaign planning and implementation, logistics, forecasting and supply management, human resources and social mobilization. Polio eradication staff now constitute the single largest resource of technical assistance for immunization in low-income countries.
Reaching children in high-risk areas is vital to ensuring high campaign coverage. Communication and social mobilization funds are used to ensure high levels of community demand for oral polio vaccine. Social and epidemiological data guides social mobilization planning and implementation to target efforts on high-risk areas and reduce the numbers of missed children.