October 24th was World Polio Day, the 5th annual World Polio Day event, co-hosted with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. A stream live from the Gates Foundation headquarters in Seattle brought together viewers from around the world. Global health experts and celebrities shared progress on the road to polio eradication.
The eradication of polio is one of Rotary's longest standing and most significant efforts. Along with their partners -- the World Health Organization, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UNICEF, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Rotary has helped immunize more than 2.5 billion children against polio in 122 countries. Polio cases have been reduced by 99.9% worldwide and Rotary won't stop until the disease is ended for good.
- 1979 Rotary International begins its fight against polio with a multi-year project to immunize 6 million children in the Philippines
- 1985 Rotary International launches PolioPlus, the first and largest internationally coordinated private-sector support of a public health initiative, with an initial fundraising target of US$120 million
- 1988 Rotary International and the World Health Organization launch the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. There are an estimated 350,000 cases of polio in 125 countries
- 1994 The International Commission for the Certification of Poliomyelitis Eradication announces that polio has been eliminated from the Americas
- 1995 Health workers and volunteers immunize 165 million children in China and India in 1 week.
- 2000 A record 550 million children, almost 10% of the world's population, receive the oral polio vaccine. The Western Pacific region, spanning from Australia to China, is declared polio-free.
- 2003 The Rotary Foundation raises $119 million in a 12-month campaign. Rotary's total contribution to polio eradication exceeds $500 million. Six countries remain polio-endemic, Afghanistan, Egypt, India, Niger, Nigeria and Pakistan.
- 2004 In Africa, synchronized National Immunization Days in 23 countries target 80 million children, the largest coordinated polio immunization effort on the continent
- 2006 The number of polio-endemic countries drops to 4, Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and Pakistan
- 2009 Rotary's overall contribution to the eradication effort nears $800 million. In January, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation pledges $355 million and issues Rotary a challenge grant of $200 million. This announcement will result in a combined $555 million in support of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.
- 2012 India surpasses one year without a recorded case of polio and is taken off the polio-endemic list. Only three countries remain polio endemic. Rotary surpasses its $200 Million Challenge fundraising goal more than five months earlier than planned
- 2014 India goes 3 full years without a new case caused by the wild poliovirus and the World Health Organization certifies the South-East Asia region polio-free. Polio cases are down over 99% since 1988.
So where do we stand now after the 1988 numbers of estimated 350,000 cases of polio in 125 countries. Year todate. Afghanistan 7. Pakistan 5. Nigeria 0. From 350,000 cases a year in 1988 to just 12 in 2017. Rotarians and their partners are committed to the eradication of polio and we are almost there.