Joyce Graff, Brookline Rotarian, gave an account of her trip to India this year as part of the Polio Plus 
initiative. She recapped the Rotary's involvement with the program to eradicate polio which started in 1985 in the Philippines. Rotary was later joined by the World Health Organization in 1988. There has been great progress since then to reduce the number of active cases from a high of 1000 new cases/day in 1988 to just 37 total cases worldwide in 2018. But Joyce emphasized that the fight is not over. While India has been polio-free since 2016 - many infectious diseases, including polio, are only a train- or plane-ride away. India is bordered by Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh where active cases remain. The flight to eradicate Polio continues.
initiative. She recapped the Rotary's involvement with the program to eradicate polio which started in 1985 in the Philippines. Rotary was later joined by the World Health Organization in 1988. There has been great progress since then to reduce the number of active cases from a high of 1000 new cases/day in 1988 to just 37 total cases worldwide in 2018. But Joyce emphasized that the fight is not over. While India has been polio-free since 2016 - many infectious diseases, including polio, are only a train- or plane-ride away. India is bordered by Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh where active cases remain. The flight to eradicate Polio continues.
