World Polio Day: Let's finish the job!
On October 24, the birthday of polio vaccine pioneer Dr. Jonas Salk, we recognize World Polio Day and the extraordinary progress made toward a world free from polio.
When Rotary committed to eradicating polio in 1985, the disease was paralyzing approximately 1,000 children every day. Today, polio cases have been reduced by more than 99%, and wild poliovirus remains endemic in only two countries: Pakistan and Afghanistan. But our work is not finished.
As a physician and our club’s PolioPlus Chair, I find this mission especially meaningful. Polio has no cure, but it is preventable through vaccination. As long as the virus continues to circulate, children remain at risk.
This World Polio Day, I invite you to join our PolioPlus effort: volunteer with the committee, support our fundraising activities, share your ideas, or make a contribution. Through Rotary’s partnership with the Gates Foundation, contributions to polio eradication are matched two-to-one.
We are closer than ever. Let’s finish what Rotary started.
Nonso Ezema, MD, MBA, FACP
PolioPlus Committee Chair
PolioPlus Committee Chair