The fight against polio is almost won. Funding cuts come at the worst possible moment

The renewed emphasis on supporting women and girls, alongside increased assistance for those living in fragile and conflict-affected states, is both welcome and necessary. However, this shift has not come without difficult and, in some cases, deeply concerning trade-offs.

Among them is the decision to withdraw UK support from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), a programme the UK has long championed, and one that has helped drive polio to the brink of eradication worldwide.

Polio is a devastating disease. It attacks the nervous system, causing irreversible paralysis, severe respiratory complications, and, in some cases, death. Once contracted, there is no cure.

And yet it is entirely preventable through vaccination. In fact, since 1988, thanks to the tireless efforts of global partnerships and organisations like the GPEI, more than 2.5 billion children have been immunised against polio. The disease is now endemic in just two countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Every other nation on earth, including Britain, has eliminated it. This is one of the great public health achievements of our time, one that we helped to build.

The GPEI vaccinates up to 440 million children each year, often in the most challenging environments imaginable. In many fragile settings, it provides not just polio vaccines, but a vital gateway to broader healthcare, delivering routine immunisations to children who might otherwise receive none at all.

The programme has continued to evolve. From next-generation vaccines, such as the novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2), which is significantly less likely to trigger new outbreaks, to advanced digital tools that track and reach missed children in real time, the GPEI represents one of the most effective and adaptive public health efforts in history. To step back from a programme that has already saved millions of lives risks undoing decades of progress.

This decision is particularly difficult to reconcile with our commitment to fragile and conflict-affected regions. Polio persists in Afghanistan precisely because instability makes sustained vaccination so difficult. These are not peripheral cases but the hardest yards of eradication. Regions where sustained, targeted health interventions are most needed.

Reducing support now creates a real and immediate risk of global resurgence. Like any infectious disease, polio is not confined by borders. If vaccination rates fall and immunity gaps widen, the virus can spread rapidly. Experts warn that, without sustained global efforts, polio could once again paralyse up to 200,000 children each year, including in countries that have been polio-free for decades.

Recent developments underscore this risk. New cases have been reported in Gaza and Papua New Guinea. Wastewater detections across Europe, including here in Britain, just last month serve as a stark reminder: as long as polio exists anywhere, children everywhere remain at risk. Polio remains the world’s longest-running Public Health Emergency of International Concern, and without continued, coordinated global action, it is likely to remain so.

Crucially, progress against polio has always depended on sustained political leadership. Where governments have remained committed, the virus has been pushed back. Where support has faltered, it has returned. Eradicating polio is within reach. To step away now would not only jeopardise a historic achievement but also weaken global health security and stability for future generations.

A polio-free world is achievable and reflects both our values and our responsibilities. The UK has played a leading role in bringing us to this point. It should not step back at the final hurdle.

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Dr Beccy Cooper is the Labour MP for Worthing West.

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