Countries: Saudi Arabia, Gambia, Guatemala, Pakistan Source: Global Polio Eradication Initiative As the world moves closer to eradicating polio, sustained partner and donor investment in scientific innovation remains essential. Many of the programme’s most significant advances have been driven by years of rigorous research, bringing together leading scientists, epidemiologists, modellers and polio experts to chart the most effective path forward. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, through the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief), plays a pivotal role in advancing this research agenda, both through landmark financial support, and by lending expertise and strategic insight through the GPEI’s Polio Research Committee. Currently funding four different studies tackling different aspects of eradication, the Kingdom is helping to fill critical knowledge gaps, from optimizing vaccination schedules to understanding communities, to overcome the last barriers to a polio-free world. Advancing the global research agenda for eradication Research is a cornerstone of the polio eradication programme, supported by many donors and partners. Since 2025, KSrelief has supported a portfolio of research projects. These studies, identified through the Polio Research Committee,each address a unique question, yet all drive toward the same goal: a world permanently free of polio. A new KSrelief-backed trial in Guatemala, approved by the Polio Research Committee in April 2026, is exploring the potential to maintain immunity with fewer vaccine doses. In this Phase IV randomised study, infants will receive different schedules of bivalent oral polio vaccine (bOPV) alongside their routine hexavalent infant vaccine (which includes the inactivated polio vaccine, IPV) to determine whether fewer doses of bOPV can maintain adequate mucosal and systemic immunity. By testing immune responses in blood and stool samples, researchers will determine whether polio vaccine doses can be reduced while still preventing poliovirus transmission and infection. If successful, this could guide future immunization policies that safely reduce OPV doses. For eradication, effective vaccine strategies are paramount – and Saudi Arabia’s support for this study may provide the evidence base for potential policy shifts. In parallel, sophisticated modeling analyses to be funded by KSrelief will help global partners chart the optimal path to eradication. Imperial College London’s modeling group, a long-time technical partner to GPEI, is examining various scenarios – for example, managing the process of bOPV cessation, understanding the performance of IPV-only vaccination schedules, and pinpointing areas at risk of undetected variant poliovirus spread. These complex analyses, built on years of prior polio modelling, will inform immunization policies and outbreak responses in the coming years. By investing in cutting-edge modelling, KSrelief’s support will ensure that decision-makers have data-driven guidance to navigate polio’s final hurdles and avoid any resurgence of the virus. Equally crucial is understanding community behavior around vaccination. In Pakistan, one of the last two countries with wild polio, Saudi-funded research to commence in Q2 of 2026 is focused on the social and behavioral drivers of immunization. A new mixed-methods study will collect data from selected high-risk districts using the World Health Organization’s BeSD (Behavioural and Social Drivers) toolkit, through surveys and interviews with parents, caregivers, frontline health workers, and programme managers. The aim is to identify why some families still miss polio vaccinations and what might encourage them to take up the polio vaccine. This study will guide strategies to boost vaccine confidence and coverage in Pakistan’s most underserved communities. Meanwhile, in The Gambia, KSrelief is supporting research focused on the first immunization opportunity in a child’s life: the newborn polio vaccine dose. In two regions of The Gambia, a mixed-methods study will soon begin to understand what influences caregivers to accept the polio birth dose, which is part of routine immunization in 56 countries. Local researchers affiliated with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine will survey mothers, families, and health providers to uncover barriers and motivators for vaccine uptake. This is vital research, considering variant poliovirus transmission in The Gambia and neighbouring countries, and declining routine immunization coverage. Positive partner impact, driving to the finish line Dr Ondrej Mach, Polio Research Coordinator at the World Health Organization, said, ‘Together, these research initiatives underscore the forward-looking impact of Saudi Arabia’s support. By investing in research, Saudi Arabia is a key partner helping us to accelerate answers to complex polio challenges.’ By championing such research, Saudi Arabia and other donors are ensuring that the Global Polio Eradication Initiative not only reaches the finish line but does so with stronger tools and deeper understanding, learnings that can be applied to broader public health.