Rotary Clubs initiate and support many local, national and international
projects. The majority of these are
generally driven by local Rotarians. A
huge emphasis of Rotarians worldwide has been the End Polio Now campaign.
Since 1988, Rotary
International and its partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative
(GPEI) — the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention — have worked to wipe polio from the face of the
earth.
Rotary’s main
responsibilities are fundraising, advocacy, and volunteer recruitment. To date,
Rotary has contributed more than US$900 million to the polio eradication
effort.
With over 33,000 clubs in
more than 200 countries and geographical areas, Rotary is able to reach out to
national governments worldwide to generate crucial financial and technical
support for polio eradication. Since 1995, the advocacy efforts of Rotary and
its partners have helped raise more than $8 billion from donor governments.
Rotary clubs also provide
“sweat equity” on the ground in polio-affected communities, which helps ensure
that leaders at all levels remain focused on the eradication goal. Rotary club
members have volunteered their time and personal resources to reach more than
two billion children in 122 countries with the oral polio vaccine.
Thanks to Rotary and its
partners, the world has seen polio cases plummet by more than 99 percent,
preventing five million instances of child paralysis and 250,000 deaths. When
Rotary began its eradication work, polio infected more than 350,000 children
annually. In 2009, fewer than 1,700 cases were reported worldwide.
But the polio cases
represented by that final 1 percent are the most difficult and expensive to
prevent. Challenges include geographic isolation, worker fatigue, armed
conflict, and cultural barriers.
That’s why it’s so important
to generate the funding needed to End Polio Now. To fail is to invite a polio
resurgence that would condemn millions of children to lifelong paralysis in the
years ahead.
The bottom line is this: As
long as polio threatens even one child anywhere in the world, all children —
wherever they live — remain at risk.
Overview
Polio eradication is within our grasp. But if we don’t eradicate the
disease now, the risk of crippling and deadly polio outbreaks will continue to
threaten the world’s children. You can help Rotary get the job done by contributing
to Rotary’s PolioPlus program or creating
awareness of polio.
Challenges to polio
eradication
Health experts agree that these primary challenges must be overcome in
order to reach the goal of polio eradication:
- Halting the spread of the poliovirus in the three remaining endemic countries (Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan), which continue to export it to polio-free areas
- Curbing the intense spread of the poliovirus in northern Nigeria and Pakistan
- Rapidly stopping polio outbreaks in previously polio-free countries
- Addressing low routine-immunization rates and surveillance gaps in polio-free areas
- Maintaining funding and political commitment to implement the eradication strategies
Four key strategies for
stopping poliovirus transmission
1. Routine immunization
High infant-immunization coverage with four doses of oral polio vaccine (OPV) in the first year of life is critical. Routine immunization is essential because it's the primary way that polio-free countries protect their children from the threat of imported polio. Read more about the bivalent oral polio vaccine.
High infant-immunization coverage with four doses of oral polio vaccine (OPV) in the first year of life is critical. Routine immunization is essential because it's the primary way that polio-free countries protect their children from the threat of imported polio. Read more about the bivalent oral polio vaccine.
2. National Immunization Days
For decades, Rotary’s PolioPlus program has been one of the driving forces during National Immunization Days, or NIDs. Rotarians are involved in myriad ways before, during, and after an NID, by providing funds for millions of drops of vaccine, promoting upcoming campaigns in the community, distributing vaccine to local health centers, serving as monitors, working with local officials to reach every child, and participating in surveillance efforts.
For decades, Rotary’s PolioPlus program has been one of the driving forces during National Immunization Days, or NIDs. Rotarians are involved in myriad ways before, during, and after an NID, by providing funds for millions of drops of vaccine, promoting upcoming campaigns in the community, distributing vaccine to local health centers, serving as monitors, working with local officials to reach every child, and participating in surveillance efforts.
3. Surveillance
Rotarians play an important role in working with health workers, pediatricians, and others to find, report, and investigate cases of acute flaccid paralysis in timely manner (ideally within 48 hours of onset). PolioPlus sometimes helps fund containers that preserve the integrity of stool samples during transport to laboratories. The program has also played a leading role in providing equipment for the global poliovirus laboratory.
Rotarians play an important role in working with health workers, pediatricians, and others to find, report, and investigate cases of acute flaccid paralysis in timely manner (ideally within 48 hours of onset). PolioPlus sometimes helps fund containers that preserve the integrity of stool samples during transport to laboratories. The program has also played a leading role in providing equipment for the global poliovirus laboratory.
4. Targeted mop-up campaigns
Rotary’s support of mop-up campaigns is similar to NID volunteering, but on a smaller, often "house-to-house," scale.
Rotary’s support of mop-up campaigns is similar to NID volunteering, but on a smaller, often "house-to-house," scale.
Contribute to stopping polio
The biggest obstacles to eradicating polio are
the underfunding of the global initiative and insufficient political commitment
from the remaining polio-affected countries. Rotary International believes the
primary source for additional funds can and should be governments of polio-free
industrialized countries. Your
contribution through Rotary will help ensure that we keep doing our part to
get the job done.
By the time the world is certified polio-free, Rotary’s contributions to
the global polio eradication effort will exceed US$1.2 billion. This
constitutes nearly 14 percent of all contributions to the global budget through
2010 and represents approximately 66 percent of private sector contributions to
the initiative. More recently, Rotary is working with the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation to help raise much needed funds to eradicate polio.
How funds are spent
In the early stages of the PolioPlus program, Rotary paid for oral
vaccines and start-up costs for Rotarian-led social mobilization efforts in
polio-endemic countries. Since the 1990s, Rotary has continuously worked with
the spearheading partners in the Global
Polio Eradication Initiative to determine how funds can best be utilized to
meet the needs of the program.
What your contributions do
- $60 -- 100 children immunized against polio
- $100 -- 200 posters promoting immunization
- $250 -- 500 aprons to identify health workers, volunteers, and vaccinators
- $500 -- 4,000 finger markers to identify children immunized
- $1,000 -- 700 vaccine carriers
Give through Rotary
Friends of Rotary are welcome to add their support to Rotary’s
number-one goal. Contribute
today.
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