Rotary working to eradicate polio

Today is World Polio Day.

I have a feeling most people reading this will have a reaction along the lines of: “What? Polio? I thought we got rid of that?”

Don’t we wish? But there is good news.

A few people will remember Iron Lungs, schoolmates who had to struggle to walk with crutches and how pools and schools were closed when there was an outbreak of polio. I am of the age where I remember lining up in the gym at Forsyth (Mont.) Elementary and getting a shot in my right arm to fight polio.

Left on its own, polio had a real possibility of killing hundreds of thousands of people and crippling even more.

This is where Rotary came in.

For many people, Rotary is known as a leadership-networking-civic organization that provides scholarships, sponsors exchange students, sells flowers and builds everything from bathrooms to bandstands. The 46,000 Rotary clubs scattered around the world were busy enough when the organization decided to tackle polio in 1985.

That year, there were 350,000 new cases of polio every year. Since then, Rotary has raised more than $2.7 billion to fight polio and has contributed countless volunteer hours. Today, there are 13 new cases of polio and those are confined to war-torn Pakistan and Afghanistan. While 13 is an increase from the eight last year, a person can clearly see the difference Rotary and Rotarians have made. That’s a 99.9 percent decrease.

We are so close.

In 1988, Rotary joined with the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to form the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.

Rotary continues to commit $50 million each year to support global eradication efforts. The Gates Foundation matches Rotary donations 2:1 so the annual total is $150 million.

World Polio Day was established by Rotary International to commemorate Jonas Salk’s birthday. He led the first team to develop a vaccine against poliomyelitis.

Rotarians are hopeful and energetic souls who are laser-focused on eradicating polio.

The world eradicated Smallpox in 1980 and my prediction is that if a few years, I will share with you that polio is erased. 

To learn more about Rotary’s focus on polio eradication, go to Rotary.org. If you would like to learn more about what Rotary does locally, please visit Sandpoint Rotary’s meetings on Wednesdays at noon at Tango or stop by the first three Tuesdays of every month at Tango at 7 a.m.

David Keyes is governor-elect of Rotary International, District 5080, and past Sandpoint Rotary president.