End Polio Now Campaign

Rotary spearheaded the campaign in the 1980s at a time when there were over 1,000 new polio cases a day in 125 countries, paralysing and often killing children. Today the number of cases is down by 99.9% Over the last 30 years, Rotary has donated US$1.8 billion to the eradication effort and has protected over 2.5 billion children from the disease through vaccination programmes. Inspired in part by Rotary’s volunteer commitment and fundraising success, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) was launched in 1988. This remarkable partnership which includes Rotary, World Health Organization, UNICEF, the US Center for Disease Control & Prevention and, more recently, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Despite there only being a handful of cases left in the world, continued campaigning, health worker training and vaccination programmes are essential to stop the disease returning and ensuring the world is certified polio-free. Rotary members continue to be key players in many aspects of the polio programme including on the ground in a number of countries as well as fundraising and advocacy. Failure to eradicate polio completely could result in as many as 200,000 new cases worldwide every year within a decade. Rotary members in Great Britain and Ireland have been huge supporters of End Polio Now and you can be part of making history.