Rotary members who are survivors of polio are talking about their experiences and the parallels to the COVID-19 pandemic. Rotary member Shirley Griffin
reflects on having polio as a child in an interview with AARP.org, and discusses her efforts with Rotary to raise funds and administer vaccines in the fight to end polio.
A media trip to India with Rotary for a National Immunization Day program inspired
this article in Forbes that covers India’s efforts to mobilize country-wide vaccinations. The piece then explores the similarities and differences between polio and COVID-19, with interviews from polio survivor Ann Lee Hussey, Rotary member and past district governor, and Peter Salk, president of the Jonas Salk Legacy Foundation and infectious disease professor at the University of Pittsburgh. His father Dr. Jonas Salk developed one of the two polio vaccines.
Despite immense challenges, India was declared wild polio-free in 2014. In a column that appears on the India-based news platform The Quint, Rotary’s India National PolioPlus Committee Chair Deepak Kapur
explains what it took to achieve that success in eradicating wild poliovirus, including mass vaccination campaigns organized by thousands of Rotary clubs across India. Kapur also emphasizes the need to remain dedicated to global polio eradication so that children stay protected from polio and other diseases.