Last September, I sat in the room as Canada pledged $151 million to support Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI).
As a polio survivor, I didn’t just hear that announcement. I felt it.
Because to me, this isn’t just about funding. It’s about what that funding makes possible: a life with dignity, with opportunity, and with hope.
I was born in Somalia. When I was a toddler, I contracted polio and lost the ability to walk. For years, I crawled on the ground while other children ran, played, and went to school. I didn’t have mobility aids or access to education and spent my early years on the sidelines.
Polio is not just an illness. It is a thief. It steals mobility, yes. But it also steals childhood. Dreams. Moments. Belief. Every kid deserves the chance to learn play and to just be a kid.
My life didn’t begin to change until I came to Canada at the tender age of eight. I had access to education, healthcare and support. I am also a mother of three incredible children who inspire me every day, and I have a career I’m proud of something I never imagined possible back then. But no one should have to move to a different country or wait that long for treatment.
Today, there are children living with polio who will not be as fortunate as I was. They will not receive adequate medical care or have access to education. They will be robbed of their childhood, forced to watch from the sidelines and miss out on life’s simplest joys, like scoring their first goal in a game of soccer.
That’s why I care so deeply about global health. Because I know what it means to live without it.
This year marks 70 years since Dr. Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine changed everything. Then through decades of effort from global partnerships like GPEI, health workers, and communities, polio has been reduced by a whopping 99.9%!
But the final push is the most difficult, and the most fragile. Polio has not disappeared, it is just quieter. Between late 2023 and throughout 2024, poliovirus returned to areas where it had previously been eliminated, strengthening its presence in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, where the virus remains entrenched and cases of wild poliovirus – naturally occurring strain of poliovirus that circulates in the environment – are rising sharply. Afghanistan saw 300% rise in wild polio while Pakistan experienced a 1,100% increase. These figures indicate a major setback in the fight to eradicate polio.
As long as polio exists anywhere, it threatens children everywhere.
Which is why it’s frightening that more and more high-income countries are cutting their international aid budgets – there’s so much at stake. In 2024, the GPEI has been forced to operate with a reduced budget and has to prioritize the most impactful activities when just 36% of global humanitarian needs were funded. That is the lowest level in a decade. If Canada follows this trend the consequences will be real. Fewer children vaccinated. More outbreaks. More lives changed forever.
Polio eradication does not happen because of one country. It happens because of collective action. That’s how we eradicated smallpox, so I know it’s possible.
We all have a role to play. Canada included.
Canada has a long history of supporting global health, now we need to continue that commitment by:
The $151 million pledge from Canada did not happen by accident. It happened because Canadians care about global health and want their government to show up when it matters most. It happened because of the dedication of Results Canada’s volunteers. It happened because it’s a Canadian value to step up when there is a need.
We are so close to a polio-free world, but the work is not done. Not yet.
Ending polio is not just about stopping a virus. It is about ensuring every child has the chance to walk, run, learn, and live a full life. I do not want another little girl to lose her future to a disease we know how to prevent.
On World Polio Day, I am asking Canada to step up for global health and to keep showing up. To continue being part of a global movement rooted in equity, solidarity, and care.
Because when we show up together, we all move forward.
