Polio Milestone- Congratulations

Congratulations! to each of you who have made the impossible happen by donating your hard earned cash or by raising funds from non-Rotarians, or by raising public awareness of Rotary's worldwide effort.

Today, Southeast Asia - home to 1.8 billion people in Bangladesh, Bhutan, DPR Korea, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Timor-Leste - has been declared Polio - Free! The media coverage has been extensive. For an example, see CNN's report here http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/22/health/india-end-of-polio/index.html?hpt=hp_c2

As recently as 2007, 70% of the world's Polio cases were found in these 11 countries. With your help, we have administered over 13 billion doses of oral Polio vaccine in this region in the last 20 years and that number has declined to zero.

If you are new to Rotary, or have not had the opportunity to participate in this largest ever public-private health initiative, you can do so on line at www.rotary.org/myrotary or with the attached Global Contribution form. But don't wait too long, only three Polio Endemic countries are left - Pakistan, Afghanistan, & Nigeria - and you will not want to be one of those who "missed the boat" by never participating in this "impossible" international service project.

Congratulations!

Terry R. Ziegler, Wayne Staton, David Frishman
District 5890 Rotary Foundation Committee Chair, PolioPlus Chair, & PolioPlus Co-Chair