End Polio Now

Rotary spearheaded the campaign at a time when there were over 1,000 polio cases a day in over 125 countries, paralysing and even 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 hasprotected over 2.5 billion children from the disease through vaccination programmes.

Inspired, in part, by Rotary's volunteer committment and fundraising success,the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) was launched in 1988.

This is a remarkable partnership which includes Rotary, World Health Organisation, UNICEF, the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and, more recently, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation .

Despite there only a handfull of cases left in the world, continued campaigning, health worker training and continued vaccination programmes are essential to stop the disease returning and ensuring the world is certified polio free.