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Rotary International's PolioPlus
Rotary International’s PolioPlus program has contributed greatly to the protection of more than two billion children from the dreaded disease of polio since 1985. Rotary International’s goal is the certification of polio eradication. Polio eradication means the interruption of the transmission of the wild poliovirus. With its vast volunteer network of 1.2 million members in more than 165 countries, Rotary is the key private sector partner in the war against polio, penetrating nearly every polio-endemic and high-risk country to immunize the world’s children. Rotarian contributions support transporting the vaccine and health workers to immunization posts and initiating dynamic public education programs to motivate parents to vaccinate their children. By the time the world is certified polio-free, Rotary’s contributions to the global polio eradication effort will reach nearly $600 million.
What exactly is polio?
- A crippling and potentially fatal infectious disease, polio (poliomyelitis) still strikes children mainly under the age of five in countries in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.
- Polio can cause paralysis and sometimes death. Because there is no cure for polio, the best protection is prevention. For as little as $0.60 worth of vaccine, a child can be protected against this crippling disease for life.
- It can cause paralysis within hours, and polio paralysis is almost always irreversible.
- In the most severe cases, polio attacks the motor neurons of the brain stem, causing breathing difficulty or even death.
- Historically, polio has been the world’s greatest cause of disability.
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If polio isn’t eradicated, the world will continue to live under the threat of the disease. More than 10 million children will be paralyzed in the next 40 years if the world fails to capitalize on its $4 billion global investment in eradication.
Claremont Rotary Club
Claremont Rotary Club has been an active participant in this giant project from its inception in 1985. Now, because of the current impetus from Rotary International to complete the Polio Plus challenge, Claremont Rotarians have committed both personal contributions and proceeds from fund raisers to continue to do their part in accomplishing this global effort.
For more information about Rotary’s fight against Polio, visit Rotary’s PolioPlus.
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