Press Release

Rotary helps world move closer to polio-free status

CONTACT: Press Center at Salt Palace: 801-534-4763; Vivian Fiore at +1 (847) 866-3234

(SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH – 17-20 June 2007) – In 2006, Rotary International contributed US$ 22.6 million and countless volunteer hours to help immunize more than 350 million children in 33 countries against polio – a crippling and sometimes fatal disease that still threatens children in parts of Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
Rotary and its global partners at the World Health Organization (WHO), US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and UNICEF, helped the world move several critical milestones closer toward eradicating polio globally – Rotary’s top philanthropic goal.
 
• Almost all outbreaks in previously polio-free countries have been stopped after an international spread between 2003 and 2006.
• Only four countries (Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and Pakistan) are considered polio-endemic (never interrupted the spread of polio) – an all time low.
• The tools to eradicate polio are better than ever, as the program now has vaccines that are three times as effective and diagnostic tools that detect and track the poliovirus twice as fast.
• Policies to minimize the risks and consequences of international spread of polio are now in place, as travelers to and from polio-endemic countries are advised to be fully vaccinated before travel.

Though great progress has been made, challenges remain. Overall, the quality of immunization campaigns must be improved with strong political oversight from the governments of the endemic countries.  In addition, more funding is critically needed, as the Global Polio Eradication Initiative is facing a funding gap of US0 million for 2007-08. 
 
In response, high-level representatives from governments, donors and international agencies, recently met and endorsed a final plan with clear milestones over the next 24-months to tackle these and other challenges to a polio-free world.   http://www.polioeradication.org/content/general/LatestNews200702.asp#CONS
 
As there is no cure for polio, the best protection is prevention. For as little as .60 cents worth of vaccine, a child can be protected against this crippling disease for life. “The only way to protect every child from polio is to eradicate it completely,” said William B. Boyd, President of Rotary International.  “The strategies and tools are known, and health experts agree that the challenges to stopping the spread of polio can be met. Rotary members are doing everything in their power by volunteering overseas and raising desperately needed funds.”

With its community-based network worldwide, Rotary is the volunteer arm of the global partnership dedicated to eradicating polio.  This year nearly 500 volunteers from the United States, Canada and Europe traveled to India and African nations where they joined fellow Rotarians from those countries to immunize millions of children under the age of five against polio. 

Rotary’s commitment to end polio represents the largest private-sector support of a global health initiative ever.  In 1985, Rotary members worldwide vowed to immunize all the world’s children against polio.  Since then, Rotary has contributed US6 million to polio eradication. Besides raising and contributing funds, over one million men and women of Rotary have volunteered their time and personal resources to help immunize more than 2 billion children in 122 countries during national immunization campaigns.

To date, the number of polio cases has been reduced from 350,000 children annually in the mid 1980s to approximately 2,000 cases all last year.  The Americas were declared free from polio in 1994, as well as the Western Pacific region in 2000 and Europe in 2002. Once eradicated, polio will be the second disease after smallpox ever to be eliminated worldwide.