Thanks for Marla Strittmatter's Presentation. And thanks Shelley Hill for this info from a flyer.
THE NEED
Though wild polio is only endemic in two countries, polio is highly infectious and spreads rapidly. The disease, which
afflicts mainly children, is transmitted via contaminated water and food supplies, and can cause paralysis. Five to 10
percent of cases of paralytic polio are fatal. As long as any poliovirus threatens even one child anywhere in the world,
children everywhere are at risk. Only the global eradication of polio will ensure that no child ever again suffers its
devastating effects.
WHERE WE ARE TODAY
•Since Rotary and our partners formed the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) in 1988, incidence of wild polio cases has decreased by 99.9 percent.
•More than 20 million cases of paralysis have been averted through the global effort to eradicate polio.
•Rotary and our partners have reduced the number of wild polio cases from 350,000 in 1988 to 30 in 2022.
•Only two countries remain endemic: Afghanistan and Pakistan.
•Out of the three strains of wild poliovirus, only type 1 continues to circulate. Type 3 was certified as eradicated in October 2019, and type 2 in September 2015.
•Since Rotary and our partners formed the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) in 1988, incidence of wild polio cases has decreased by 99.9 percent.
•More than 20 million cases of paralysis have been averted through the global effort to eradicate polio.
•Rotary and our partners have reduced the number of wild polio cases from 350,000 in 1988 to 30 in 2022.
•Only two countries remain endemic: Afghanistan and Pakistan.
•Out of the three strains of wild poliovirus, only type 1 continues to circulate. Type 3 was certified as eradicated in October 2019, and type 2 in September 2015.
ROTARY’S ROLE
Rotary International began immunizing children against polio in 1979, and in 1985, Rotary launched its polio eradication program, PolioPlus. In 1988, the World Health Assembly (the governing body of the WHO) resolved to end polio. Toward that goal, Rotary helped assemble partnerships with WHO, UNICEF, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that established the GPEI. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance later joined.
Rotary’s primary role in the GPEI is fundraising, advocacy, raising awareness, and member engagement