A generation ago, poliomyelitis was a feared disease. paralysing hundreds of thousands of children every year. Most countries have now eliminated the disease, and our generation has the chance to eradicate it entirely.
October 24 is World Polio Day, a time for Rotary members and public health advocates to promote the progress made so far towards a polio free world, and to talk about the actions needed to end polio for good.
Although the last case of poliomyelitis in Australia was in 1972, this devastating disease still threatens children in parts of the world today. Afghanistan and Pakistan are the only two countries left with endemic wild polio but several countries in central Africa are experiencing outbreaks of variant polio.Positive wastewater samples in London, a case in New York last year, and a recent case in Gaza remind us that polio anywhere is a threat everywhere. Unless we keep vaccination levels high, polio is only a plane ride away.
There is no cure for polio, a viral infection which attacks the nervous system, and can lead to paralysis and even death. However, with vaccination it is preventable. Since launching its PolioPlus program in 1985, Rotarians have worked to eradicate polio globally. When that happens, it will be only the second human disease after smallpox ever to be eradicated.
In 1988, Rotary partnered with the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to form the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI). The Gates Foundation and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, joined the GPEI later. When the initiative launched, there were 350,000 cases of polio every year. Today, the incidence of polio has plummeted by more than 99.9% with only about 40 cases this year.
Rotary has contributed more than US$2.7 billion to fight polio and countless volunteer hours. Thanks to Rotary and its partners, more than 3 billion children have been immunized, more than 21 million people have been saved from the paralysis of poliomyelitis and 1.5 million lives saved.
To sustain this progress and to reach every child with the polio vaccine, Rotary has committed to raising US$50 million each year. The Gates Foundation has pledged to match that 2-to-1 so that Rotary has a total of US$150 million annually to spend on global polio eradication efforts. On World Polio Day, Rotary is calling for public support. Your contributions can help us reach the historic milestone of a polio free world and by sharing factual information you can encourage vaccine acceptance and uptake, preventing polio outbreaks in the future.
You can donate on this link: End Polio Donate . All donations are matched 2:1 by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, tripling your impact!
Visit Rotary.org and endpolio.org for more information about Rotary and its efforts to eradicate polio.
