At a recent Global Travelers’ meeting, Tim Mulcrone, District 5950 Polio Chair, provided an update on Rotary’s flagship initiative. As Rotarians, we can be very proud of all that we have accomplished since 1985. But on this final stretch, we need to double down in our efforts to fulfill the promise Rotary made in 1985 to completely eradicate polio.
Polio is an ancient disease that has been around for thousands of years. In the mid 20th century, we experienced particularly virulent outbreaks in the US. We might have been too young to remember, but many of us have friends or family members who fell victim and suffered varying degrees of lasting impact.
In 1955 at long last, Dr. Jonas Salk developed an injectable vaccine. 6 years later, Dr. Albert Sabin developed a “live” oral vaccine, which became widely used throughout the world. Many of us remember standing in line to drink the red elixir from a tiny plastic cup.
Fast forward to 1985. Developed countries had made excellent progress in vaccinating children, but around the world, polio was still rampant — 387,000 cases of polio in one year in over 125 countries. Rotary International made the decision to launch a bold initiative to immunize children everywhere and eradicate polio.
Rotary was the initiator and catalyst for the largest public-private health project in the history of the world. In 1988, Rotary established the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI). We have partnered with many organizations in this effort, including the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the Centers for Disease Control, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and governments of every country around the world.
Fast forward again to 2024. We and our partners have spent billions of dollars and immunized over 2.5 billion children thanks to the cooperation of more than 200 countries and 20 million volunteers. This year, we’ve had just 5 cases of polio in the wild in 2 endemic countries.
Marathon runners will tell you that the first 20 miles (of a 26.2-mile race) is just 50% of the race. It takes more endurance, determination, and stamina to run the last 50% (6.2 miles). Our marathon to defeat polio is down to the last 0.2 miles. We’re 99% of the distance to the finish line, but that last 1% is tough. We have to maintain momentum and fight against these obstacles:
We’ve been doing this for 30 years. It’s a challenge to convince people to continue to invest and volunteer.
Many people who are alive today have no context for the scourge of polio. They don’t know anyone who was affected. It’s a lesson in the history books.
In some parts of the world, people suspect the intentions of the medical community. Sometimes those fears are based on real history. Plus, vaccine hesitancy in general is growing.
We’re so close to the finish line that many Rotarians are agitating to choose the next big thing. There are many worthy projects that Rotary might choose to pursue, but first we need to fulfill our promise to the world to eradicate polio.
Of course, the most important positive news is that this year we have only 5 polio cases in the wild. As fight to get that number to 0, we have several positive developments to report.
Rotary Districts around the world are launching PolioPlus societies to encourage members to make an annual contribution to the effort. Our District 5950 is offering a behind-the-scenes Target Field tour on June 22 to anyone who contributes at least $50 to the PolioPlus fund.
In addition, Rotary Club of Brooklyn Park members Kevin and Jennifer Weist want to help our District honor the memory of Brooklyn Park Rotarian and friend Eldon Tessman. To do this, they have generously offered a matching gift challenge through June 30. Read more.
Vaccine-derived polio has been a tiny but persistent issue throughout the campaign. The percentage of occurrence is vanishingly small, but it has the potential to reintroduce disease.
The medical community launched an effort to develop a more stable “live” vaccine that would drastically reduce the already small occurrence of vaccine-derived polio. A new vaccine was approved by the WHO late in 2021 and is now widely used. Learn more.
The polio initiative has spawned public health efforts in many developing countries that extend beyond polio immunizations. For example, trained women open pop-up clinics to treat children in transportation centers used by displaced persons.
The polio effort is leaving a valuable public health infrastructure in its wake.
Afghanistan is one of the remaining countries with a couple cases of endemic polio. Rather than relying on westerners, the Taliban now has their own immunization program that is reaching 3M children, many of whom we couldn’t access.
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