PolioPlus — Rotary and the eradication of polio
From 350,000 cases a year to just two countries where the disease still persists
Polio is a disease that can cause permanent paralysis within hours. There is no cure — but there is a vaccine, and it costs less than one euro per child.
How it began
In 1979 Rotary began vaccinating six million children in the Philippines. From that project grew PolioPlus in 1985 — the first global initiative by a non-governmental organisation to eradicate a disease.
In 1988 the Global Polio Eradication Initiative was founded, in which Rotary works alongside the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the US Centers for Disease Control and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The result
When the work began, polio was paralysing around 350,000 people a year in 125 countries. Today the number of cases has fallen by more than 99 per cent, and the disease remains endemic in only Afghanistan and Pakistan.
More than 2.5 billion children have been vaccinated in over 120 countries. It is estimated that this has prevented some 20 million cases of permanent paralysis.
Why the work does not stop
As long as a single child remains infected, children everywhere are at risk. Halting vaccination would mean the disease returning — estimates suggest up to 200,000 new cases a year within a decade.
So Rotary continues: every club, ours included, sets aside funds for PolioPlus each year. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation matches every Rotary dollar two to one.
More at [endpolio.org](https://www.endpolio.org/) and on our district's [End Polio Now](https://rotarydistrict2483.org/end-polio-now/) page.