World Polio Day

In preparation for World Polio Day on October 24, 2018, Rotary International President Barry Rassin provided an update on Rotary’s efforts to defeat this crippling disease. Thanks to the vision of Rotary and its partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative we now have fewer cases of polio than any time in history. As of today, only 14 children have been paralyzed by the wild polio virus in all of 2018. Only three countries are still polio-endemic; wild virus still circulates in only one remaining reservoir, on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan. As encouraging as these accomplishments are, until eradication is certified -at least three years from the time the last poliovirus is found anywhere in the world-every single child must be immunized at the cost of hundreds of millions of dollars a year. I f any momentum is lost, we risk losing everything we have worked for, for so many years.

As Rotarians we must continue to raise awareness of this effort. Promote it to your friends, neighbors and organizations.