On October 24, Rotary hosted the fifth World Polio Day event at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle. Global health experts and celebrities spoke about the progress on the road to polio eradication, and what obstacles remain.
The 2017 World Polio Day livestream received 149,648 views, a 49 percent increase over the previous year’s viewership.
World Polio Day content shared by Rotary social media channels garnered 5.9 million engagements (likes, shares, comments, and video views). World Polio Day content shared by 224 celebrities, Rotary polio ambassadors, organizations, and Global Polio Eradication Initiative partners received an additional 2.7 million engagements.
The event received significant media coverage, with stories in outlets including CNBC, Forbes, People magazine, NPR, Voice of America, UPROXX, Seattle’s KING 5 TV, Pakistan Today, and India Today.
Rotarians registered more than 3,400 World Polio Day events, (many of which were right here in District 7070), in 102 countries at www.endpolio.org.
End Polio Now online donations increased by 9 percent over 2016, totaling more than $335,000.