The Gates Foundation has pledged $1.2 billion to support global polio eradication.

CTOnews.com, October 17 (Xinhua)-- the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation says it will invest $1.2 billion to support polio eradication around the world.

The money will be used to help implement the strategy of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative until 2026. The initiative is trying to eliminate the polio virus in Pakistan and Afghanistan, the last endemic countries, the foundation said in a statement on Sunday.

The money will also be used to stop the outbreak of new variants of the virus. The news was announced at the World Health Summit in Berlin on Sunday.

CTOnews.com learned that the foundation said in a statement on its website that it had contributed nearly $5 billion to polio eradication initiatives. The initiative is trying to integrate polio campaigns into broader health services while expanding the use of new oral polio vaccines.

The foundation is also working to strengthen national health systems so that countries can prepare for future health threats, the statement said.

"the final steps towards polio eradication are by far the most difficult. But our foundation remains committed to a polio-free future, and we are optimistic that we will see it soon."

The Polio Eradication Initiative is a public-private partnership led by governments, including the Gates Foundation, Rotary International, the World Health Organization and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.