Bill Gates wrote a heartwarming letter acknowledging all the dedicated people in the world who have contributed to end polio.

The world is SO CLOSE to ending this tragic disease that affects primarily children under the age of five for the rest of their lives.

The world is 99.9 percent there. Bill Gates thanks all the volunteers and health care workers who have made this progress possible despite tremendous odds. 

How many lives were affected by all the hard work polio fighters across the world have contributed?

“Ten million children are alive and walking today because of your efforts to eradicate polio,” Gates writes in his letter.

To read the full thank you letter from Bill Gates click here. You can end polio in the last two remaining countries by taking action and finishing polio once and for all.

Go to TAKE ACTION NOW and send a Tweet to let the world know you are in the fight to end polio.

Disclosure: The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is a funding partner of Global Citizen.

Editor's note: This piece has been updated to include a disclosure that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is a funding partner of Global Citizen. We regret the oversight.