November is Rotary Foundation Month, and it is more than appropriate to focus on what will be, I believe, its greatest achievement -- when polio is ultimately eradicated from the face of the earth. The Rotary Foundation initiated its PolioPlus program in 1985 when there was a grant to fund a polio vaccination effort in the Philippines. In 1988, when Rotary began working with its partners UNICEF and the WHO in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, there were more than 350,000 polio cases annually in over 125 countries. Since then, nearly three billion children have been immunized against polio and the incidence of polio has decreased 99.9%. As of November 7, 2023, the number of wild virus polio cases confirmed in 2023 total 10; it can be found only in two countries - four of those cases in Pakistan and six in Afghanistan, with another 92 wild polio cases estimated in those countries based on environmental samples and other information. It is further estimated that some 20 million people are walking today who would have been paralyzed had it not been for the polio eradication campaign. Nonetheless, until all countries have been certified polio free for three years, the effort must continue. What that entails going forward will be part of the presentation that will be made on The Rotary Foundation at our club meeting on November 29th. Please attend!