Eradicating Polio
On Friday, April 17, members welcomed Dr. Jim Cole to their luncheon. For many years Dr. Cole has been deeply involved in Rotary’s efforts to eliminate this dread disease.  Dr. Cole discussed the nature of polio, the history of and differences between the Salk and Sabin vaccines and the 30 years of Rotary’s efforts to eradicate polio throughout the world.
 
 
2015 marks the 60th anniversary of the first testing of the polio vaccine.  Since 1985, Rotary International has contributed more than $1.3 billion to the protection of more than two billion children. Along with its partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative  (including the World Health Organization, the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, UNICEF, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation), Rotary has been a leader in the efforts to eradicate polio.  Polio incidence has dropped more than 99% since the 1980s, when the world was seeing about 1,000 polio cases per day. According to global polio surveillance data from December 17, 2014, only 333 polio cases had been reported world-wide that year.
 
Dr. Cole discussed the current state of polio in the world and how it moves between countries.  Polio is still considered endemic in Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan.  He also pointed to a major success in India which was declared polio free in 2014. Today 80% of the world’s people live in polio-free areas.
 
 
Dr. Cole emphasized Rotary’s commitment to eradicating polio and confidence in our ultimate success with a quote from Calvin Coolidge:  “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.”
 
To learn more go to http://www.endpolio.org