OCTOBER 24TH WAS WORLD POLIO DAY 2021!

For more than 30 years, Rotary and our partners have driven the effort to eradicate polio worldwide. Our PolioPlus program was the first initiative to tackle global polio eradication by vaccinating children on a massive scale. As a core partner in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, Rotary focuses on advocacy, fundraising, volunteer recruitment, and awareness-building.

 

Kingwood Rotary joined other Rotary clubs in the Houston area on Sunday, October 24th at the Gerald D. Hines Waterwall (a 64-foot waterwall located in the Galleria area) for our World Polio Day event.  In total, $11,000 was raised to help eradicate polio.  With the 2-for-1 match from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, that raised the total to $33,000 which will protect 55,000 children from polio!

 

When Rotary and its partners launched the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988, there were 350,000 cases of polio in 125 countries every year. We’ve made great progress against the disease since then. Today, polio cases have been reduced by 99.9 percent, and just two countries continue to report cases of wild poliovirus: Afghanistan and Pakistan. And we remain committed to the end.

 

With polio nearly eradicated, Rotary and its partners must sustain this progress and continue to reach every child with the polio vaccine. Without full funding and political commitment, this paralyzing disease could return to polio-free countries, putting children everywhere at risk. Rotary has committed to raising US$50 million each year to support global polio eradication efforts. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged to match that 2-to-1, for a total yearly contribution of $150 million.