International development secretary Clare Short has pledged £59m to the 'final push' of a global campaign to eradicate polio, bringing the UK's total contribution to £130m. The funding will go to the Indian government's Pulse Polio Initiative and the World Health Organisation's Polio Eradication Initiative aimed at six countries in Africa. Since 1988, when the World Health Assembly established the aim of eradicating polio, the number of reported cases has fallen from an estimated 350,000 to 25,000.