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February 14, 2003

U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"Payne Urges U.S. to Help in the Conquest of Polio"

New Jersey Star-Ledger (www.nj.com/news/ledger) (02/14/03); Casiano, Jonathan

Rep. Donald Payne (D-N.J.) urged Congress on Thursday to aid a global initiative against polio, led by Rotary International and the U.S. Agency for International Development.  "We are so close [to eliminating the disease] that it is imperative that we pitch in to end this struggle once and for all," Payne said.  Speaking at a Capital Hill news conference, Payne called on the United States to help relief groups overcome a $275 million funding shortfall in the anti-polio effort.  A resolution Payne is sponsoring does not mention a monitary contribution but asks the United States to supply the "necessary human and material resources to end the scourge of polio once and for all."  The World Health Organization's Bruce Aylward, coordinator of the Polio Eradication Initiative, noted that 575 million children worldwide were vaccinated against polio last year.

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