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In the late 1970's and early 1980's Rotary began the work of immunizing children against Polio. In 1985 Rotary officially launched Polio Plus. Rotary has combined their efforts with WHO, Unicef, US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as well as affiliations with many local government agencies around the world.
In 1985, 350 000 people, mostly children, were paralyzed by Polio every year. In 2015 the world had 74 cases and in 2016 it is tracking towards 1/4 of the cases. The numbers have gone from about 6 700 per week to less than 1 per week.
The end game has changed from, how many children have we immunized to...how many children have we missed...with the goal being, no child missed!!
Total eradication is an important goal although difficult to attain. While working towards this end other benefits are clear from this effort. Establishing infrastructure that can respond to other outbreaks, such as Ebola, have been very successful. In addition the work requires local governmental and religious support and this effort, although at times difficult, has many long term benefits for our world.
As you may know, the Rotary Club of Spruce Grove, contributes $1 500 each year to Polio Plus through a $50.00 contribution on behalf of each speaker we have. There have been a number of good stories of the Polio Plus efforts in the September and October issues of, the Rotarian.
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