Mark von Hoetzendorff gave an update on World Polio eradication that started as a Rotary project 35 years ago. "Rotarians have contributed $2.1 billion with countless volunteer hours to vaccinates 3B children in 122 countries," he said. Mark showed photos from his trips to Africa at the height of Rotary efforts on that continent. In 2020 Africa was certified by WHO as polio free.
Rob Schaefer made a stirring appeal for continued support of the project and gave clear instructions about how to donate. While polio outbreak is down to only a few per year in Afghanistan and Pakistan, funds are still needed to do the surveys necessary to determine when infections of wild polio virus are finally ended. It takes two years of no new cases for WHO to declare the world "Polio Free."
What is next?
- Afghanistan and Pakistan remain polio endemic due to governmental and religious restrictions
- If we stop our efforts to vaccinate the children of these two countries it’s estimated that at minimum 200,000 children could be paralyzed each year.
- It costs $3.00 to protect a child against polio
- It costs $100M to conduct polio surveillance each year
- So what can you and I do to help?
Happy Bucks for the month of October will go to RI Polio Eradication fund.
