POLIO UPDATE

A bomb blast outside a polio eradication center in Quetta in southwest Pakistan killed 14 security personnel and one civilian and injured 25 on Jan. 13, 2016. The bomb exploded outside the center shortly before vaccination teams were scheduled to travel to neighborhoods as part of a three-day immunization campaign.  This is once again sad news from Pakistan, one of only two remaining endemic countries in the worldwide fight against polio.  Our hearts go out to those dead and injured who would make the world a better place.

It has been four years since a case of wild polio in India and one & one-half years since a case in Nigeria.  There have been no new cases occurring in 2016.  72 cases were reported in 2015 – all in Afghanistan and Pakistan -- in contrast to the 359 total cases in 2014.  Will 2016 see the end of the wild polio virus?  The first $35 million in Rotarian donations is being matched 2:1 this year by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  Won’t you give now?