To mark World Polio Day on 24 October, Rotary and Northwestern University’s Center for Global Health will host a live streamed global status update on the fight to end polio. Invited guests include Global Polio Eradication Initiative partners, celebrity ambassadors, polio survivors, and Rotary members.
We are at a “tipping point” for polio eradication. In 2012, polio cases were at their lowest levels ever. Rotary and its partners have to finish the job or risk losing long-fought gains entirely. Since the global initiative began more than 25 years ago, Rotary and its partners have reduced polio cases by 99 percent worldwide. There are only three countries where the wild poliovirus has never been stopped: Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan.
Rotary’s chief role is fundraising, advocacy, and mobilizing volunteers. Other partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative are the World Health Organization, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, UN Foundation, and UNICEF, along with world governments.
Every dollar Rotary raises (up to US$35 million/year) will be matched 2-to-1 by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for polio eradication efforts through 2018.
Rotary and Northwestern University’s Center for Global Health will host a live streamed global update on polio eradication on World Polio Day, 24 October.
You can join the “World Polio Day: Making History” live event from wherever you are worldwide by visiting endpolionow.org
