Without
full funding and political commitment to eradication, the disease could
return to countries that are now polio-free and put children everywhere
at risk
|
EVANSTON,
Illinois, October 17, 2017/ -- With just 11 confirmed polio cases so
far in 2017, the world is on the brink of eradicating polio, a
vaccine-preventable disease that once paralyzed hundreds of thousands of
children each year.
To recognize this historic progress, Rotary (www.Rotary.org) clubs worldwide will host events in conjunction with Rotary International’s fifth annual World Polio Day celebration on Oct. 24. This year, the event will be co-hosted by Rotary and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and held at the foundation’s headquarters in Seattle. The program will feature an update on the global fight to end polio and an array of guest speakers, celebrities, and public health experts. People around the world can view the livestream of the event at this link (http://APO.af/PP9imJ) on Oct. 24 at 2:30 p.m. Pacific time. “Rotary and its partners are closer than ever to eradicating polio,” says Michael K. McGovern, chair of Rotary’s International PolioPlus Committee, which leads the organization’s polio eradication efforts. “World Polio Day is the ideal opportunity to celebrate our successes, raise public awareness, and talk about what is needed to end this paralyzing disease for good.” Without full funding and political commitment to eradication, the disease could return to countries that are now polio-free and put children everywhere at risk. Rotary is giving $49.5 million in grants to support immunization and surveillance activities led by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (www.PolioEradication.org). Some of the funds will support efforts to end polio in the three countries where polio remains endemic: Afghanistan ($9.32 million), Pakistan ($8.94 million), and Nigeria ($7.71 million). Further funding will support efforts to keep six vulnerable countries polio-free: Chad ($2.37 million), the Democratic Republic of Congo ($4.5 million), Guinea ($961,000), Somalia ($1.62 million), South Sudan ($3.77 million), and Sudan ($2.56 million). An additional $7.74 million will go toward surveillance activities in Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean region. In a show of solidarity and to raise awareness and funds for polio eradication, Rotary clubs around the globe will host nearly 1,900 events for World Polio Day. They include:
“To
protect all children from polio, world governments and donors must see
through their commitments to fund critical work and support rigorous
disease surveillance in both endemic and at-risk polio-free countries,”
says McGovern. Rotary has committed to raising $150 million over the
next three years, which will be matched 2-to-1 by the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation, yielding $450 million for polio eradication
activities, including immunization and surveillance.
Rotary started its polio eradication program PolioPlus (www. |
TANZANIA NCHI YANGU
SMATIKA
WAFADHILI
Wednesday, October 18, 2017
Rotary gives $49.5 million to help eradicate polio and challenges the world to continue the fight to end the disease
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