Where are we in the fight to end polio? What have we accomplished? How can we make history together? Find out on World Polio Day.
To mark World Polio Day on 24 October, Rotary will host a live-streamed global status update on the fight to end polio. Invited guests include Global Polio Eradication Initiative partners; celebrity ambassadors, including Ziggy Marley; polio survivors, including inspirational athlete Minda Dentler; and Rotary members. We can end polio now. Don’t miss this moment in history!
 
Rotary, a humanitarian service organization with nearly 34,000 clubs in more than 200 countries and geographical areas, made polio eradication its top priority in 1985.  Rotary has since contributed US$1.3 billion, and its members have logged countless volunteer hours to help immunize more than two billion children in 122 countries.   

ROTARY AND POLIO BACKGROUND
When Rotary began the fight in 1985, polio affected 350,000 people, mostly children, in 125 countries every year. Since then, polio cases have dropped by more than 99 percent. To date, Rotary has contributed $1.3 billion and countless volunteer hours to protect more than two billion children.After nearly 30 years, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative stands on the brink of history by making polio only the second human disease to be stopped forever.

WHY POLIO ERADICATION MATTERS
No child anywhere in the world will have to suffer from this completely preventable disease. It only costs 60 cents to protect a child against polio for life. Reaching the most vulnerable children with the polio vaccine leads the way to the delivery of other life-saving resources. A win against polio is a win for global health in the broadest sense: a true legacy.

Since the global polio eradication initiative began more than 25 years ago, Rotary and its partners have reduced polio cases by 99 percent worldwide. 

• There are only three countries where the wild poliovirus has never been stopped: Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan.
• In early 2014, we celebrated one of the world’s greatest achievements in global health: India being declared polio-free. India was once considered the hardest place on earth to stop polio. Now, India’s success proves polio can be stopped in even the most challenging conditions.
• The remaining 1 percent of polio cases are the most difficult to prevent, due to factors such as geographical isolation, poor public infrastructure, armed conflict, and cultural barriers.
• Rotary’s chief role is fundraising, advocacy, and mobilizing volunteers. Other partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative are the World Health Organization, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, UN Foundation, and UNICEF, along with world governments. 
• Every dollar Rotary raises (up to $35 million/year) will be matched 2-to-1 by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for polio eradication efforts through 2018.

Where are we in the fight to end polio? What have we accomplished? How can we make history together? Find out on World Polio Day.
To mark World Polio Day on 24 October, Rotary will host a live-streamed global status update on the fight to end polio. Invited guests include Global Polio Eradication Initiative partners; celebrity ambassadors, including Ziggy Marley; polio survivors, including inspirational athlete Minda Dentler; and Rotary members. We can end polio now. Don’t miss this moment in history!

Article credits and information are attributed to Rotary International.