International

Forty years ago (1985 to be precise) Rotary International pledged to raise funds to help eradicate Polio, a crippling and often deadly disease that was striking down young children all over the world. This prompted an initiative with the World Health Organisation to set up the Global Polio Eradication Scheme. Since then, thanks to worldwide immunisation schemes cases of wild polio virus have been wiped out in all but two countries - Afghanistan and Pakistan, where a total of 12 cases were reported last year. It's a far cry from the estimated 350,000 in 1988 and its very much thanks to campaigning and fund-raising by Rotarians, together with the Gates Foundation that this is possible. But there is no room for complacency — we remember that Polio is still only a plane journey away. So our efforts for complete eradication continue.